Book Review: Maple

I fell in love with Maple, the book and the character, on page one.  Maple is an endearing little girl who is named for the Maple tree planted in her honor before she was born.  The story follows Maple as she grows through the years and the changing seasons with the tree as her constant friend. When she is too noisy mom and dad send her outside to play by her tree.  She sings to, sways with and sometimes pretends to be a tree. She loves her tree but wishes sometimes she had a real play mate.  Then, one Spring day as she is playing under the shade of the tree she is surprised by a newly planted sapling, and then even more surprised to learn she is going to be a big sister. She is delighted with her baby sister. And when she is too noisy (quite often) takes her outside to play and rest beneath the tree's dancing leaves.

Book Review: Little Gorilla

     I recently had the chance to visit some classrooms and read to the children some of my favorite stories for Love of Reading week.   Little Gorilla was one that I read in nearly every class, and it was a big hit.  Even though the Little Gorilla was written close to 40 years ago,  it has a gentle and comforting message that still resonates with today's kids.

Book Review: This Plus That by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

In honor of Love of Reading Week, I absolutely must mention Amy Krouse Rosenthal's This Plus That: Life's Little Equations.  You will fall in love with this book and most likely spend the rest of your day creating your own little equations.  As is true of most of Rosenthal's picture books, it is based on a beautifully simple concept: This + That = Something.  Easy enough.  She includes "Yes + No = Maybe" and "Wishes + Frosting = Birthday."  There is "Small + Bottle = Baby" and "Tall + Coffee = Grownup."  The fun continues as you turn each page and attempt to guess the solution of the equation before reading.  You'll even see some more complex operations toward the end of the book, such as subtraction and division, which spices up the pattern a bit.