A Top Notch Read!!

Every once in awhile I come across a book that I wish I could stand on top of Taos Mountain and shout about, a book I didn't want to put down, and then want to read more of the author. I don't really wish I was teaching 5th grade again, but if I was, this would be a book I'd read aloud to the class after lunch. I would copy my own 6th grade teacher Mr. Broadus who read to us every day! I loved books before 6th grade, but Mr. Broadus clinched that love with his love of books. Shy me didn't even mind when I had to stand in front of class and recite a poem. One would do almost anything for a good teacher. I hope the young people (of all ages) reading this book will find themselves even greater book worms than before.

The Wolf in the Wardrobe is a most enjoyable read as it is a touching, humorous, well written book by Susan Brocker. Finn has always wanted a dog of his own, but his mother is against it as they have Nana Eva, with her Alzheimer Disease, to care for as well as their busy schedules. When a car swerves narrowly missing Finn on his bike and hits a dog who runs off, Finn follows the dog into the bush and finds that she’s an injured wolf that ran away from a cruel and malicious circus clown, Cackles. While Finn hides Lupa in his wardrobe to heal, he can’t conceal her from Nana Eva, who also hides glittery things she finds in the house including Lupa’s colorful, studded collar. Finn wonders how he is going to hide and feed Lupa, and then later keep her from Cackles who wants the collar back and plots to kill Lupa for revenge.

The young adult readers, actually readers of all ages, will avidly follow Finn and Lupa’s adventures and then want more. They will fall in love with Lupa, commiserate with Finn who gets himself into trouble with his tall tales, “boo” at Cackles, and laugh with Nana Eva who brings a feisty comic relief and a heroine mode. All the while readers will learn about wolf behavior, new words such as chook which is slang for chicken in New Zealand, and other cultural differences between the United States and New Zealand while being deeply entertained. This book can be used for a study of wolves and as a jumping off point for imaginative fiction writing based on reality.

www.susanbrocker.com

Breaking Rules

 Lately I've been thinking a lot about breaking rules and beliefs, no not the big rules like driving on the right side of the road or talking in the movies, but ones that don't work anymore, like "children must be seen and not heard," or "the world is flat". Another way to put it is that it's wonderful to think outside the box. Like if children didn't speak up, the toddlers in my care wouldn't learn new words. If the world was still flat, how could we get to the moon easily? Or, if everyone behaved by rules, we wouldn't have had Einsteins, Orwell, Van Gogh, or the Wright Brothers. I love Hecky in this book as she's cheeky enough to break the rule of not going into FrogBog Forest. There she discovers the imaginative world of a talking frog. Maybe, when she grows up, she can bring that world into reality through writing a book or painting an illustration. Who knows where our curiosity can lead us!! What are you curious about today?

The Most Curious Girl in Her Class

“Frogs don’t talk!” Curious Hecky finds out that one does indeed talk! Hecky learns about FrogBog Forest and though warned against ever going there, she goes to assuage her perpetual curiosity. In the forest she and her younger brother Shmecky find Dennis Hopster frog who can talk because someone has read books to him.

The lovely line drawings with washes of color by artist Esteban Erlich both compliment and add to the text by author Herman Huber. The Most Curious Girl in Her Class makes a great early reader for 7-9 year olds, yet can be enjoyed from preschool years when parents and teachers read it aloud to their young listeners who are also learning new words, just like Dennis Hopster. The book can be used as well in a nature lesson with children spotting, naming, and categorizing the creatures in FrogBog Forest. Readers will look forward to the next adventures of Hecky and Shmecky.

www.Mishpuchabooks.com