Our summer program for this past week featured a lovely Storyteller, and so I built off of the idea of her as the hero of the day to pick a trio of Heroine-focused stories for our family storytime that morning. I was away, so I sadly didn't get to give the stories, but I have done all of them as performances or storytime titles before.
I tried to pick a nice variety of heroines, and I think I ended up with a fun sampling.
Flossie and the Fox
Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Rachel Isadora
ISBN: 0803702507
Reviewed here.
So so good. Love everything about this story.
Daisy and the Beastie
Jane Simmons
ISBN: 0316797855
Soft-edged paintings showcase a duckling's-eye viewpoint on the big bad world.
Simmons has a set of Daisy stories, and I've read each and every one of them to storytime audiences and to relatives, but for some reason, Daisy and the Beastie is the recurring favorite. Daisy and Pip are on Grandpa duck's farm, and he tells them the spooky barnyard story of the "beastie" - whereupon they set out to find it. Daisy is plucky and opinionated, and I love how she cares for and reassures little Pip. A quality heroine for the youngest readers.
Ladybug Girl
David Soman, illustrated by Jacky Davis
ISBN: 9780803731950
Origin story for a NYTimes bestselling phenom, and several other books.
Soman's Ladybug Girl is another where all of the books make the rounds of storytime when I need an instant classic. Much like the Violet Mackerel series, Ladybug Girl shows off the development of social skills and moral behavior, without being overtly moralizing or sermonizing, or tying these universal human qualities to a specific religion or philosophy. In this first installment, Lulu is bored and cranky inside, but she's too small to play in her older brother's ball game. Ladybug Girl arises from the ashes of her cranky mood, rising up to conquer the challenges of playing alone and entertaining herself.
A solid trio, and while I was happy to be able to hand off a solid set of performers to my substitute, I was more than a little sad to miss presenting them myself!
No comments:
Post a Comment