Tuesday Storytime: Larger than Life Women

A super-cold day today, so only a few came.  Still, we had a great time!

This is the partner to my "Larger than Life Men" that I did in January.

Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart
Pat Mora, illustrated by Raul Colon
ISBN: 0375823379

This is a bit on the long side for my group, but it's very repetitive, so it's possible to skip over pages without missing anything if you really need to.  We did the whole book today, but if the group was any larger, I was planning to take advantage of that if I had need.  Dona Flor's mother sang to her plants and her child as she raised them, and each ended up being giant sized.  Now Flor lives in a village and tries to be motherly and helpful to her neighbors, especially now that they're menaced by the sounds of an enormous angry puma.  Lovely lovely lovely illustrations, sweet story, and a cute ending - no violence (except an accidental black eye).



Stand Straight, Ella Kate: The True Story of a Real Giant
Kate Klise, illustrated by M. Sarah Klise
ISBN: 9780803734043

Ella Kate was from a small midwestern town, and she grew to be a giant - 8'4" at her tallest!  Thanks to a kind and supportive family, she never felt too down about being oversized, and even went on tour with a traveling circus to earn money and support herself (which was rare for any woman back then).  I love the way the book ended with her coming back home to share stories of her adventures with her friends.



My Mom
Anthony Browne
ISBN: 0374350981

An older book, but a consistently good one for storytimes.  Usually I'd do the short book (which this is) in the middle, but I liked the idea of bringing the theme from fantastical to historical to actual by ending on a family-oriented note.  The repeated use of the floral motif makes for a lovely through-line.  The repeated "very nice" is also sweet.


First Runner Up (not used today, but have in the past and will in future)
Brave Margaret
Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Sally Wen Comport
ISBN: 0689810725

This was also on the long side, so I wouldn't have been able to do both it and Dona Flor.  I went with Flor because I wanted to be at least a little diverse when I can be, and also because of the Spanish vocabulary used.  However, Brave Margaret is a lovely story, and when I do princesses or heroines, she's at the top of my list.  I super-love the illustrations, and I like that Margaret is straightforward about what she wants, and her abilities to do it.
 

Next week?  Owls!