Tuesday Storytime: Animal Friends

Some cute, sweet, and slightly off-kilter stories about animal friendships.

Emma Kate
Patricia Polacco
ISBN: 0399244522
The narrator does everything with Emma Kate, and the illustrations cover everything; a rambunctious girl with a bright red dress and pigtails, and a pretty nearly life-size elephant go around doing all sorts of mundane things - going to school, riding bikes, playing sports, even spending time in the hospital for their tonsils to be taken out. At the end, savvy readers (and lookers) won't be TOO surprised when they realize why only one of the characters is in color.

Gaston
Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Christian Robinson
ISBN: 9781442451025
Mrs Poodle is very proud of her four kids: Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Ohh-La-La, and Gaston, even though Gaston doesn't quite fit the mold. All of them are sweet kids and Gaston especially tries hard and has a sweet attitude. When Mrs Poodle meets Mrs Bulldog at the park with HER four kids, Rocky, Ricky, Bruno, and Antoinette, things become much clearer, but also complicated. The solution is a bit pat (especially for anyone who has dealt with foster or adoption issues) but the sentiment is sound, and everything comes together (literally) in the end.

Elmore
Holly Hobbie
ISBN: 9781524718633
I've been holding on to this book for nearly a year, trying to figure out what angle I wanted to take with the themes in it, and I finally decided just to keep it simple and go with friendship, but there's a lot to unpack in this simple, sweet book about a lonely porcupine who just wants to have some friends, but his needles and spines seem to make things impossible. A kindly uncle and a new perspective (and very open and friendly neighbors) help to smooth things over, and at the end, Elmore has developed his own very particular method of starting friendships.

 

Summer Reading Program 2014. Week 7: Food Science Rejects; Round Three

This round was eliminated because the titles were either too tightly focused on one food (apples) or had a split focus (birthdays and storms/fears) making them a little less suited for a Food Science program.

Benny Bakes a Cake
Eve Rice
ISBN: 0688843123

This is an OLD book - as old as I am!  I do really like it for my younger group.  It's Benny's birthday today, and he's helping Mama bake the cake, and Ralph watches.  Benny is also making sure that Ralph is being good.  Once the cake is finished, Benny and Mama get ready to go for a walk, but no one is watching Ralph, and down goes the cake.  Benny is inconsolable, but Mama and Papa save the day, and Benny gets a cake for his birthday after all.  Short, sweet, cute old-fashioned illustrations, and a happy-ever-after ending.  I've used it for birthday, sweets, pets, and cooking storytimes so far.


The Apple Orchard Riddle
Margaret McNamara, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
ISBN: 9780375847448

In contrast with the previous title, this one is quite new, and I would have used it, but it has such a singular focus on apples that I thought it would be better to stay with titles that had a more broad focus.  However, I'm going to be using it regularly for my fall apple storytime.  It's a teensy bit on the long side, but lots of my other apple picks are very short, so it should balance out nicely.  A diverse field trip heads to the apple orchard, where they learn all about different varieties of apples, about apple orchards and growing, and about cider and applesauce.  Through the whole story, the daydreamer main character tries to puzzle out a riddle "a little red house with no windows and no door, but with a star inside" which is eventually answered by a cut apple.


Thunder Cake
Patricia Polacco
ISBN: 0399222316

Another long book, and this time I decided against it because the focus is more on the storms and the girl's fear than on the actual baking.  It remains one of my favorite books about conquering fear of something - by staying busy, staying distracted, and doing what needs doing even if you feel scared inside.  An excellent lesson, all wrapped up in a thundery afternoon of baking.