Fairy In A Dairy

A little wordy for a picture book, yet when I read it aloud to an audience the terrific illustrations fascinated them and the eagerness for a happy ending helped them to stick with it. Cow as heroine is a favorite for me. I read this during JUNE DAIRY MONTH and enjoyed many chuckles during it. Satisfying and well structured! The reader feels superior because they are pretty sure they know what is going on. Still they want to know if the mayor and sheriff will figure it out, too. Fun! (You will be hungry for a dairy product after this story!)

Apology & Forgiveness

I loved the concept but not the layout. The first half of the book are the apologies and the second half of the book are the responses. So the reader is flipping back and forth to see how the apologies were received. I think the format would have been more inviting if the apology and the response were side by side. Both the apologies and responses are wonderfully unique and sincere. A favorite pairing is one where a girl apologizes to her sister for physically hurting her and her sister responds by saying, " I am still pissed off at you." What could be more realistic?! Still marveling over this book and how to utilize it with students or have it as a model for conflict resolution in some way. Wouldn't it be a wonder, especially on the world stage, if people made it a habit to exchange poems of apology and forgiveness? We can dream!

A book that pays tribute to Van Gogh's starry night!

This lovely picture book starts with a quote from Van Gogh: " I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream." I love this sentiment for today, the FIRST day of our summer reading program, A UNIVERSE OF STORIES. Denise Fleming, the author & illustrator of the book, emulates the style of Van Gogh's paintings on each page of this book.

Just as the title foretells, cow has lost her "moo" and travels around to find who has it so that she can swap for "cluck".