Tuesday Storytime: Summer Reading, What Makes a Hero?

Our second week of Heroic reads for my storytime, gearing up for the Summer Reading programs to start next week!  Today we talked about some of the character traits that make a hero: bravery, self-discipline, and cleverness.


Bravery
Oliver Finds His Way
Phyllis Root, illustrated by Christopher Denise
ISBN: 0763613835
Adorable little tubby bear-cub in muted, foresty colors, with the most expressive face.

I adore this book.  Oliver is playing in his yard and wanders accidentally into the forest and is lost - oh no!  He "cries and cries and cries" but he is still lost, so he wrinkles up his nose and starts to think his way out of his predicament.  I love that he rescues himself, and that he is afraid and crying, but gets over it and solves his problems with the resources that he has available.  A good lesson that heroic behavior isn't always visible to anyone else but you.


Self-Discipline
Karate Hour
Carol Nevius, illustrated by Bill Thomson
ISBN: 0761451692
High-impact compositions of photo-realistic black-and white drawings, punctuated by pops of color.

This is an excellent book, and I'm saddened fairly often that I can't find other good picture-book-level martial arts stories to match it up with for storytimes.  Thomson's illustrations are amazing, and the "story" of a class in progress is short and punchy, perfect for the short middle read.


Cleverness
The Clever Stick
John Lechner
ISBN: 9780763639501
Simplistic bright-hued drawings of stereotypical countryside.  Refreshing and easy on the eyes.

Our protagonist is a stick, and he's quite clever - he solves algebra problems, thinks about the nature of beauty, and wants to help the other woodland creatures with their problems, but he's a stick; he has no mouth, and can't talk at all.  He's stuck inside his own head, until one sad day sees him dragging his metaphorical "feet" and he notices the resulting line drawn in the sand.  Our clever stick becomes an artist, and shows off all his amazing thoughts to his friends and neighbors.  Another very excellent story about solving your problems and using interesting methods to help yourself out.