How to use this Page

Woo-hoo!  It's Friday!

Doesn't Friday just automatically make you happy?

I think Fridays are just a little bit magic and have an advantage over the other days of the week :)

My plan for this weekend includes baking birthday cake for my step-daughter and babysitting for my granddaughters so she and her husband can have a little much-deserved-no-kids-couple-time.  Lucky me - I totally win out!  I see acorn and stick collecting, painting, play-doh, sidewalk chalk, tea parties, hide-and-seek, and being a pony in my weekend :)

And I'm thinking I will share this book - my PPBF pick for this week - because it is so cute and sweet!

Title: Extraordinary Jane
Written & Illustrated By: Hannah E. Harrison
Dial, February 2014, Fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-8

Themes/Topics: being yourself

Opening: "Jane was ordinary in a world that was extraordinary."

Brief Synopsis: Jane is a little dog who lives at the circus.  She's not graceful like her mother, mighty like her father, daring like her brothers, or fearless like her sisters.  She's just Jane.  But you don't have to be graceful or mighty or daring or fearless to be special.

Links To Resources: together with your child or class, make a list of things you think everyone would agree are extraordinary, like being brave or strong.  Do you have any of those qualities? Does your child or the members of your class?  Talk about what extraordinary really means.  Make a new list of things that could be considered extraordinary, like helping an elderly neighbor take out the recycling, or being kind to the new kid in class.  Who has these qualities?  Talk about what makes you like people - probably things like they're nice, or they make you laugh.  Can those things be considered special?  What can you do today to make the world a better place just by being you?  Would pair nicely with Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson.





Why I Like This Book: This is one of those delightfully simple and sweet books that I just love!  Let's face it - lots of us feel ordinary.  So many kids can relate to the idea of worrying that they might not measure up in today's world of high expectations.  This sweet story reminds us - kids, parents, and teachers alike - that we are all extraordinary in our own way, and that we are all special to somebody.  The art is bright and colorful.  Some of the spreads are humorous (in particular the balancing ball incident  and the page after it :)) and the last one is guaranteed to make you say "Aww!" :)

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

So what are you all planning for this weekend (besides a trip to the library to read all the great books that are sure to show up on this week's PPBF list)?

PPBF bloggers, please leave your post-specific links on the list below so we can all come visit and make our library lists :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!!! :)

Add a Comment

Boys Are Dogs by Leslie Margolis. Bloomsbury USA Children's Books. 2008. Brilliance Audio 2009. Reviewed from audiobook from Brilliance. Narrated by Ellen Grafton.

The Plot: Annabelle has moved to a new house. Because her mother has decided to move in with her new boyfriend. So now she has to go to a new school, a public middle school after years at an all girl's school. Also? Annabelle has a new puppy.

New house, new Mom's boyfriend, new school, new puppy, new friends, new boys. It's a lot to deal with and Annabelle does so -- sometimes gracefully, sometimes not, sometimes reluctantly, sometimes wholeheartedly, but always with humor and a unique, invidual outlook on life.

The Good: Annabelle is a terrific sixth grader. Boys are Dogs captures that perfect mix of excitement and fear over starting a new school in a new town where you know no one. Sometimes, it all goes wrong, like when the puppy eats Annabelle's back to school clothes. Other times, it all goes right, like when Rachel, a girl her age in her new neighborhood, invites Annabelle to eat lunch with Rachel and her friends. If you don't understand the importance of having someone to eat lunch with on the first day of a new school -- well, I can only assume you never had a first day at a new school.

Annabelle and her mother have always been a tight unit of two; the inclusion of Ted, Mom's boyfriend, is done both realistically but also, well -- in a nice way. While it's not easy and all Brady Bunch at the beginning, how refreshing to have a book where the grownups (Mom and Ted) act like, well, grown ups, thinking of Annabelle. Annabelle may not always agree, such as when she had to move away from her school and her two best friends.

A new school with boys... and this is where the book really kicks into gear. Whether it's because Annabelle had no father or brothers, or went to an all girl school, or is now a sixth grader in middle school (I know some teachers who really dislike middle schools), Annabelle has only just now encountered boys. This is not a book about tween romance. Annabelle is not boy crazy -- and before I continue, not every sixth grade girl is boy crazy and it's nice to see that reality reflected in a book. Sixth graders will like this book; but so, too, will younger kids.

Even if Annabelle wanted a boyfriend, the actions of the boys at this new school hardly scream "date me." They kick her chair, play practical jokes on her, call her Spanabelle and Spaz, hog the science equipment, ruin her homework, and I could go on and on. You know what is great about this book? No one ever says to Annabelle or the reader, "that boy is acting like that because he likes you." Hallelujah to at least one book that doesn't perpetuate the myth, "if a boy is mean or disrespectful it's because he likes you."

Annabelle puts up with it.... at first. But she has a secret weapon. Remember her clothes eating puppy? She's been reading how to train dogs. Annabelle puts two and two together and figu

Display Comments Add a Comment