Day 25!
Almost there, people!
I’m proud of you!
Today’s book is really fun.
I learned about it last year.
I love books that take one simple thing and flip it on its head.
In this case, the order of the story!
And guess what?
You can win a copy of this book!
Giveaway winner announced tomorrow!
Title: The End
Published by: Arthur A. Levine, Scholastic, 2007
Written by: David LaRochelle
Illustrated by: Richard Egielski
Word count: 217
Pages: 36
In one word: Reverse!
In one sentence: Start with the happily ever after, go backwards to see how it all began, and look at the illustrations from the back to the front to see the story unfold in a forward direction!
Favorite pages:
Likes:
- I love the structure of this story. It makes the whole thing feel fresh.
- You NEED to turn the page to see how what happened actually came to happen!
- Fun illustrations that feel very fairy tale 🙂
- The sentence structure is great and lends itself well to children making up their own story to mirror this one!
Learns:
- Sometimes flipping one thing can make something old feel very fresh.
- The need to turn the page is so important! And a story really works when it has that!
- Seemingly random elements CAN all come together and make a story!
This one reminds me of
“The Day Jimmy’s Boa Constrictor Ate the Wash.”
in the way that it goes in reverse.
Anyone seen this one?
Keep reading, friends!
Until tomorrow,
KE and SS
Today, I read SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. This book has 979-words. It is a biography of a self-taught scientist who photographed thousands of individual snowflakes in order to study their unique formations. The setting was Vermont and this was a non-fiction book.
I loved the illustrations and the story. Since I joined a nonfiction picture book group on Facebook, I will be reading more nonfiction books. This was an awesome book.
THE END sounds like a challenge to write and a challenge to sell. I look forward to reading it.
I read MOONDAY by Adam Rex, 2013, Disney-Hyperion Books. It’s common to think the moon follows us home, but for the little girl in this story, it actually does. When she wakes in the morning, there it is outside her window. She goes into her backyard, climbs up on the moon, walks around on it. The moon prevents day from moving in. It makes people drowsy and moon obsessed. For example, the teacher writes “1 + 1 = moon.” When the moon influences the tide to gather in the girl’s back yard, she and her parents know something must be done quickly. The little girl suggests something that may put the moon back where it belongs.
The art is AWFUL! That is, if you like to have time in your day to do other things. Open this book and you’ll spend long, luscious moments soaking in the beautiful illustrations found on every single page. When I finally closed this book, I said to my husband, “I want this guy to illustrate one of my books.” Sigh.
I, too, daydream about which talented artist would be the perfect illustrator for my various manuscripts 🙂
I appreciate Adam’s many different art styles, but have lately thought that David Shannon would be perfect for my most recent manuscript. One can dream…
I love the reverse concept of The End. Today I read Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown. I think the illustrations make this story come to life. The black and white background puts the orange highlights center-stage. Jasper Rabbit feels like he is being followed by creepy carrots but he can’t prove it. He hatches a plan to trap the carrots. It has a cute, funny ending.
I read “Pug & Doug” by Steve Breen. It is a cute story about two besties and a misunderstanding.
I actually ran out of picture books, and so last night went to the library after dinner. It was my first time being at this branch after dark. The kid’s section was busier than I expected on a week night after 8pm. I am sure I looked like a mad woman pulling random books from the shelves and stuffing them into my bag that has a giant goldfish on it.
Falling behind! But I’ll squeak one in today. I read THE BOY WHO CRIED BIGFOOT! by Scott Magoon. Paula Wiseman book in 2013. A remake of the boy who cried wolf.
I love the concept of The End and have it listed as a type I’d someday like to write, probably because I love Jimmy’s Boa so much!
I read DO UNTO OTTERS: A BOOK ABOUT MANNERS by Laurie Keller. I’d forgotten how extensive the list of manners was and how clever the word play is. Now on my list of read-alouds for next week!
I reread an old favorite – I Went Walking by Sue Williams. My kids loved the repetition and predicting which animals came next. It occurred to me, though, that this is almost exactly the same story as Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. Now I have to go see which one came first!
We read The End recently! It took the kids a minute to understand the backwards concept, and then they really were hooked.
Tonight we read “Fall Mixed Up” by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Chad Cameron. It’s a fun spin on a seasonal autumn book because it mixes up the typical topics: “Bears gather nuts. Geese hibernate. Squirrels fly south in big figure eights.” The kids thought it was really funny and spent time re-reading it to find all the silly mix ups.
That’s a unique structure for a book.
I read H is for Haunted House, an alphabet Halloween book by Tanya Lee Stone.
Today I read The Quiet Place by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small. It’s another amazing book by Stewart. Like The Gardener, it’s written in letters. The book celebrates a box turned into a quiet place to read and draw and think, and ends with a party that isn’t quiet, but is a celebration of community and friendship.
I am several days behind. “Olivia” by Ian Falconer.