by Carmen Oliver
Illustrated by Miren Asiain Lora
I read to several different grades each week and this book looked so enchanting that I couldn’t resist reviewing it. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC.
The title and cover of this book immediately drew me in. The art is beautiful and whimsically colorful and would easily hold the attentions of younger book lovers, while still holding the thread of anticipation for older children.
We find ourselves getting ready for a librarian to spin, spin us a story along with the local wildlife. We meet different animals as they arrive just in time to settle in for the tale. The writing is a great exercise in storytelling and setting by immersing the reader with tactile expression. I love the sensory experience that is brought alive in the story. The reader is invited to imagine the story setting with their whole self. Bringing to the imagination the experience of taste, smell, sight, feel, and sound.
This is a book I would gladly bring to school for a read aloud for Preschool and up, and would be a great addition to a teacher’s shelf. With the large sensory aspect, it would be an apt introduction to a five senses unit. It would be easy to create activities for this story so children could be physically involved by acting out motions or by utilizing objects so they could actively use their senses instead of relying on imagination. The wildlife characters and the way they come out at night and travel to the library would also make this a fun addition to a nocturnal animal unit. The words could be analyzed to show how to use sensory descriptions for creative writing unit. Overall, the language is very simple but there are some trickier words that could be vocabulary builders or you could easily verbally edit for younger children. E.g., canopy = trees.
My only critiques are two. One: you don’t get to know the story that is being told so you would have to make sure the kids aren’t waiting for ‘something’ to happen. That the telling IS the story. Two: there are couple of places where the flow of the story gets away from the set rhythm and feels clunky. But I’m really picky and aural.
Overall, this a wonderful book and one I will be adding to my shelves. It’s beautiful and simple with the added benefit of helping young minds fall in love with the craft of storytelling.
Other books that are currently available that I have recently used for similar activities:
Comments