Tuesday Storytime: You Can Do It!

The exclamation mark from the title is actually a part of the theme today.  I ended up with a generic "reading" coloring sheet, because it's very difficult to get a visual representation of excited achievement.  The struggles I face at work, I tell you.  :)


Katy Did It!
Lorianne Siomades
ISBN: 9781590786024
Patterned-paper collages of bugs and plants and surfaces against a stark white background.

Katy and her little brother Lou, are out of the house for some hopping, but no trouble, as Mama firmly instructs.  Katy does her best, but she keeps causing problems, even though she doesn't mean to!  What's worse, is that little Lou keeps TATTLING on her, calling out "Katy Did It!" every time she puts a foot wrong.  She's glum and dispirited, with no bounce left in her, until she find a group of people who really need her, and she is rewarded by having people celebrate that she "Did" a good thing too.


Hi
Ann Herbert Scott, illustrated by Glo Coalson
ISBN: 0399219641
Sweet watercolors and a simple story of encouragement and connection between people.  Beautifully diverse.

Margarita's mom has taken her to the Post Office, and she tries repeatedly to strike up a conversation with the people in line, but they're all too wrapped up in their own lives and worlds to even notice her.  Sweet perky Margarita's initial "Hi!" gets less and less chirpy (and attentive viewers will notice the sweet Post Office lady is taking note of this as well) until Margarita gets to the front of the line, but her overture is reduced to a whisper by the prior constant rejections.  A sweet happy ending (very quickly) wraps things up, and our toddler is back to her ebullient self again.


Exclamation Mark
Amy Krause Rosenthal, Tom Lichtenheld
ISBN: 9780545436793
Anthropomorphized punctuation marks live in a world of wide-ruled classroom paper.

Our hero starts off sad.  He isn't like the other periods, he stands out - literally!  He tries to fit in, but can't force himself into that shape.  He's sad and confused until he meets an inquisitive mark that also stands out, but she's perfectly happy with her questioning nature, which eventually causes him to explode!  Oh!  Well!  Look at that!  Finally figuring out what he's for is a miracle!  So our hero returns to the other marks in a beautiful state of excitement, showing off the sort of phrases and comments he's good for, and is (of course) accepted for his stand-out abilities!  (just hush and go read it - it's adorable.)