Archive for May 5, 2017

The Day I Ran Away

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Written by Holly L. Niner
Illustrated by Isabella Ongaro

Two words: sweet and adorable. Both the story and the illustrations. Told mostly through dialogue, the words are sparse but meaningful. The illustrations give a lot of meaning to the girl’s actions.

A young, very independent girl is having a bad day, at least what seems like a bad day to her. She can’t wear her favorite shirt and she’s out of her favorite cereal. She goes to her room to color and colors her shirt instead. In a heap of trouble, she announces she’s running away. Mom packs her sandwich for her, then she remembers she’s not allowed to cross the street. So she runs away to the back yard with her pop up tent, her dog, her stuffed animals, and coloring pages. The run away session is so successful, she vows to repeat it.

The story shows how a little solitude can be a good thing, especially if we have a loving family to return to, or one that would like to run away with you. 

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  • The Day I Ran AwayTitle: The Day I Ran Away
  • Author: Holly L. Niner
  • Illustrator: Isabella Ongaro
  • Published: Flashlight Press, 2017
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Hardcover, 32 pages
  • Grade Level: K to 2
  • Genre: Picture book, Fiction
  • ISBN: 978-1936261898
  • Extras: Website activity pages
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Pig the Pug

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Written and Illustrated by Aaron Blabey       

Pig is a greedy pug dog. He has lots of toys, but won’t share any of them with Trevor, the little wiener dog.  It is hard to say if Trevor is a neighbor or another member of the family. Either way, Pig isn’t about to let him play.

The bouncy rhyming text will engage kindergarten readers as well as grade one independent readers to guess what might happen next. They will all be scared when Pig falls out the window, but might decide characters generally get what is coming to them. The humorous ending brings satisfaction and closure to the story. It also gives teachers, parents and librarians a chance to discuss with the children if Pig will act differently toward Trevor, and others, in the future.

This will also, undoubtedly, make the children return to the library in search of the other books about this silly pug. Funny books make the struggle of reading fun, too.

Buy on Amazon

  • Pig the PugTitle:  Pig the Pug
  • Author/Illustrator:  Aaron Blabey
  • Publisher:  Scholastic, 2017
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format:  Hardcover, 32 pages
  • ISBN:  978-1-338-11245-0
  • Genre: Picture Book
  • Grade level: PreK to 1
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