Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week, I'm going to share with you a fun picture book that celebrates storytelling.
Missy loves her librarian, Miss Brooks. And she loves to go to Miss Brooks’ before-school story time. But to get to Story Nook, she has to pass Billy Toomey’s house—and she does not love Billy Toomey.
Billy always tries to steal her hat and jeers, “I’m going to get you!” It’s vexing. Then one rainy (and hatless) day, Miss Brooks changes story hour to storytelling hour. She teaches the kids about characters and plot and action and satisfying conclusions and encourages them to make up their own tales.
And that’s when Missy has a brainstorm. She sees a way to use her made-up story to deal with her real-life bully.
In this terrifically funny ode to inventiveness and ingenuity, Barbara Bottner and Michael Emberley celebrate the power of stories and how they can help us to rewrite our own lives. -- Knopf for Young Readers
MISS BROOKS' STORY NOOK (WHERE TALES ARE TOLD AND OGRES ARE WELCOME!) by Barbara Bottner and illustrations by Michael Emberley is a very cute picture book that celebrates creativity and storytelling. It's actually a companion book to MISS BROOKS LOVES BOOKS (AND I DON'T!) which I reviewed over four years ago - you can read my review here!
In this book, Missy is back again, although instead of a reluctant reader, she now is a kid who loves Miss Brooks' Story Nook. This story time takes place before school, and Missy doesn't like having to take the shortcut to get there in time. The shortcut takes her past Billy Toomey's house, and Billy is quite "vexing" according to Missy.
Missy arrives at story time just in time for a big storm! The power in the school goes out and Miss Brooks can't see to read her book. So... Miss Brooks teaches the children to become good storytellers.
"Good readers make wonderful storytellers, " said Miss Brooks.
With Miss Brooks prompting, the children try to come up with a story using interesting characters, plot action, and a satisfying ending. Missy, being Missy, is more focused on the Billy the bully. However, she uses Billy as inspiration to create a terrific story that also helps her solve problem!
I enjoyed MISS BROOKS' STORY NOOK and I was happy to see Missy back and as interesting as ever. I loved the message in this picture book about being creative, and I especially appreciated that Miss Brooks gave some examples about what makes a good story. Furthermore, I enjoyed seeing Missy attempt something new -- she's a bit reluctant like that; and I was impressed with how she tied together her storytelling with her handling of a problem
The illustrations by Michael Emberley are so cute! I love the various characters, including the ones that the school children created in their minds; and I honestly think I might like the actual pictures even better than the story.
One little warning for parents... When the children are creating their story during story time, there is a bit of violence concerning a lion and a snake -- and I mean a little bit! I had absolutely no issues with these pages, but I just wanted to put it out there in case some parents might be surprised by this. The illustrations do not depict it at all so no worries there.
MISS BROOKS' STORY NOOK is very cute and has some fantastic messages about storytelling and handling problems.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this book.
If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!
Sounds very cute but I wonder what the lion and the snake get into!
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