Perfect Picture Book Friday!

Opening and Synopsis- Opening Lines: “Penguin, look what I got!” said Ella.

 

Synopsis from Amazon: “Sometimes all you need is a good friend to help you be brave.

 

Ella has a surprise for Penguin—glow-in-the-dark stickers! But to see the stickers glow, Ella and Penguin must be in the dark. And the dark is so . . . dark! If only they could see the stickers glow in the light—but that won’t work. Soon Ella and Penguin find out that if they stick together, they can face anything.”

 

What I Thought- Penguin and Ella have a friendship that anyone can admire. They trust each other, and help each other. Penguin is afraid of going in the dark, dark closet, so Ella helps Penguin by trying to find a place that is dark-but-not-too-dark. Ms. Bonnet’s sweet, heart-warming illustrations pair perfectly with Ms. Maynor’s playful writing style. I loved every second reading this nice book, and I bet it would make a wonderful bedtime story. I will be looking into more Ella and Penguin adventures as soon as possible!

 

Activities and Resources- Discuss ways to be a good friend in valuing others’ opinions and fears.

 

I found some cute glow-in-the-dark crafts in this Children Story Books that would go nicely with this book.

 

Make your own jar of fireflies HERE

 

Glow in the dark starscape with glitter and glue and stickers HERE

 

HERE is a list of ten very cool glow-in-the-dark crafts!

The Totally Secret Secret

 

Ballet Cat and Sparkles the Pony are trying to decide what to play today. Nothing that Sparkles suggests–making crafts, playing checkers, and selling lemonade–goes well with the leaping, spinning, and twirling that Ballet Cat likes to do. When Sparkles’s leaps, spins, and twirls seem halfhearted, Ballet Cat asks him what’s wrong. Sparkles doesn’t want to say. He has a secret that Ballet Cat won’t want to hear. What Sparkles doesn’t know is that Ballet Cat has a secret of her own, a totally secret secret. Once their secrets are shared, will their friendship end, or be stronger than ever?

 

Dance! Dance! Underpants!

Ballet Cat is getting her friend Butter Bear ready for her big ballet debut. “Leap, Butter Bear, leap!” Ballet Cat prompts. But Butter Bear would prefer to just point her toe. When Ballet Cat keeps pushing, Butter Bear gets hungry, then thirsty, then sleepy . . . The bottom line is that Butter Bear would rather do almost anything to avoid making a big leap. Why? Because her bottom is covered in silly underpants! This second entry in the Ballet Cat series will have beginning readers rolling on the floor with laughter.

[Source: http://thiskidreviewsbooks.com/]