Monday, August 27, 2018

Awake Beautiful Child by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Illus by Gracia Lam


Pretty much everything by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is going to be looked at by me. Humor, whimsy, love--they are must reads. I had never heard of this one before picking it up at Loussac library in Alaska. I saw it was an ABC book and the illustrations were intriguing, so it went home with me. 


And it IS an ABC book, but not how I was expecting it. I thought I was getting an alphabet book with an awkward picture of the kids playing on a xylophone when we got to x.

But no! How could I have doubted Rosenthal? 


This book only contains phrases that start with ABC, in that order. 

All Begins Cheerily

Amusing breakfast chatter

Adorable Baby Coos

Apples, Bananas, Cantaloupe. 


On each page, I was anxious to see how she continued the story while staying true to the format. 


The story isn't deep--it is really just a day in the life of a kid. 


And half way through the boy switches to a girl. 


But the story of a day in the life of a child moves smoothly along. 


Alive. Beloved. Content.

There is so much confidence and safety in this phrase.

A lot of Amy Krouse Rosenthal books are shot through with love and care and this one, while being mostly a gimmick book is no different. 




I really want to try this scheme out with a grade or two this year--could we tell a story using specific letters of the alphabet over and over? 

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