Sylvester and the Magic Pebble Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Steig, William. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Simon & Schuster: New York, 1969. ISBN 9781416902065

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
Sylvester, a young donkey, likes to collect pebbles. While he is outside one day, he finds a red pebble that grants him wishes. During his play, he comes across an angry lion, grows afraid, and wishes to camouflage himself as a rock and is unable to wish himself back into being a donkey. His parents search and search for him, but over a year's time are unable to figure out what happened to their son, until a chance picnic brings them all together again. 

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is the story of a child separated from his parents for magical reasons and how the members of the family cope during their separation. Sylvester Duncan is a curious child who enjoys being outside. His community is drawn as a peaceful place full of neighbors who are various animals. Steig's illustrations portray emotions that move the story from crisis, when Sylvester magically turns himself into a rock to escape an angry lion, to his parents spending a year searching for their son, who is nowhere to be found, and onto the climax, where they are reunited. Time is illustrated in two different ways, once from Sylvester's point of view as the seasons change in the meadow where he lays as a rock, feeling sad and tired and hopeless, and also as his parents spend a year looking everywhere for their son. The illustrations, although full of color and light (except in the middle of winter), make the book accessible to the very young and breed hope for the family's future.

Steig's story depicts the lengths that parents love their children, no matter how long they are separated, and the feelings of sadness and despair by a child alone in the wilderness. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble teaches children that appreciating what you have is better than whatever magical development you could wish for, and the author uses a variety of diverse adjectives to describe emotions. The unifying theme of the story is how the feeling of love within a family gets the Duncans (and the readers) through difficult times. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a 1970 Caldecott Medal Winner. 

From Kirkus Review
"Sylvester's 'only chance of becoming himself again was for someone to find the red pebble and to wish that the rock next to it would be a donkey' -- surely the prize predicament of the year and, in William Steig's pearly colors, one of the prettiest. How Mother and Father Duncan (donkey), despairing of finding their son, do eventually break the red pebble's spell and bring back Sylvester is a fable of happy families of all breeds."

From Horn Book 

"A remarkable atmosphere of childlike innocence pervades the book; beautiful pictures in full, natural color show daily and seasonal changes in the lush countryside and greatly extend the kindly humor and the warm, unselfconscious tenderness." 

5. CONNECTIONS
Other books about getting lost:

• Freeman, Don. Corduroy Lost and Found. ISBN 9780670061006
• Gami, Taro. I Lost My Dad. ISBN 9781929132041
• Raschka, Chris. Daisy Gets Lost. ISBN 9780449817414

More from William Steig: 

• Brave Irene. ISBN 9780312564223
• Doctor De Sota. ISBN 9780312611897
• Pete's a Pizza. ISBN 9780060527549

Getting lost is an unfortunate risk with children, but reading books about feeling lost and finding your way home to love again can engage children to talk about experiences they might have had being lost or fears they have about being lost. 

This is Not My Hat Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Klassen, Jon. This is Not My Hat. Candlewick Press: Somerville, Mass., 2012. 9780763655990

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
A tiny fish steals a hat from a huge fish while he is sleeping. The small fish knows stealing is wrong, and he tells the reader all the reasons he thinks he "deserves" the hat. He also tells the reader how he is going to get away with stealing it. In the end, the big fish finds him and gets his hat back, and the reader knows that nothing good probably happened to the tiny fish when he was caught.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Learning right from wrong is often a trial and error situation for children. Toddlers and twos may just grab what they want and not understand consequences. While older children may know in their heads what to do, but in their hearts they WANT something, so they lack the self-control to stop themselves from making the bad choices. Jon Klassen's book, This is Not My Hat, shows the unspoken consequences to bad decisions, particularly when you act out against someone who is bigger than you are. 

The setting of this story is in a cold, dark underwater environment illustrated on black pages. In the dark of the sea, no one will probably notice a small fish stealing a larger fish's hat. The morale of the story is that stealing is wrong and has serious repercussions, but the way Klassen chose to write and illustrate the story are both witty and humorous. The story is narrated from the thief's point of view, while the illustrations tell the big fish's point of view -- all through the drawing of just the big fish's eye. Without seeing the words and the illustrations together, the reader would not understand the humor or the inferred viciousness of the ultimate tale of this story. This is the second book in a three-book series of hat-related books by Klassen. His first, I Want My Hat Back, had a similarly comedic ending related to food chain justice. 

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
This Is Not My Hat was the 2013 Caldecott Award Winner and the 2014 Kate Greenaway Medal winner in Britain. Klassen is the first author/illustrator to win those prizes for the same book. 

From Horn Book
"The eyes have it in Klassen's latest hat book (I Want My Hat Back). Klassen manages to tell almost the whole story through subtle eye movements and the tilt of seaweed and air bubbles..."

From Publisher's Weekly
"Readers hope for the best, but after the big fish darts in, only one of them emerges, sporting the hat. It's no surprise that the dominant color of the spreads is black. Tough times call for tough picture books." 

5. CONNECTIONS
Other books about the consequences of making poor decisions or choices:

• Cook, Julia. Ricky Sticky Fingers. ISBN 9781937870089
• Shannon, David. David Gets in Trouble. ISBN 9780439051545
• Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. ISBN 9780689711732

More from Jon Klassen: 

• I Want My Hat Back. ISBN 9780763655983
• We Found a Hat. ISBN 9780763656003

Use these book as a great way to discuss the concepts about personal responsibility and how sometimes our hardest days come from making decisions without giving thought to what is right and what is wrong. Children ages 3-8 may have varying ideas about morals and philosophy that they want to put into words. Listening to their reactions and their own personal stories is very important. It's also a great way to teach opposites. If you cover the words and show them the illustrations first, have them tell the story to you. Then when they are able to read the story with the text, they'll see the opposite is true. 

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed Review by Dana G. Williams

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY
Willems, Mo. Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. New York: Hyperion Books, 2009. ISBN 9781423114376

2.  PLOT SUMMARY
In this story, Wilbur, the protagonist, is a naked mole rat who is supposed to be -- naked. Instead, Wilbur enjoys wearing all kinds of clothes and costumes. His individual style attracts negative attention from a group of three other naked mole rats. The antagonists argue with Wilbur that wearing clothes is unacceptable. When Wilbur will not back down and instead takes their sarcastic suggestion to open a clothing store to heart, his peer group takes him to see Grand-Pah, the community's elder, for his opinion. After much consideration, Grand-Pah makes his proclamation that clothes do not hurt anyone and wearing them should be up to the individual. The news of his approval of clothes, and of trying new things, makes the community more accepting of differences.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Children are very observant to the world around them. Often they see that what is similar is socially acceptable. However, in Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, Willems explores the importance of self-expression and individuality in society. The story addresses a common childhood problem where one child is considered "weird" by a group of peers. When the young mole rats are unable to solve the conflict themselves, they approach an adult, the elderly Grand-Pah, for a resolution at the climax. 

Willems' written theme is illustrated well. Life in the naked mole rat tunnels is very plain. The mole rats are pink; the background is light brown. Willems' uses simple, rounded lines to illustrate the mole rats' underground city and the only colors in their world comes from the vibrant clothing that Wilbur wears. Willems uses omniscient point of view to tell the main narration of the story and highlights the word proclamation in heavy set, large, bold type to visually impress the importance of Grand-Pah's words in his decision on the reader. In the end, children can understand that no matter how someone is different, they can all get to know each other, respect each other as individuals and have a great time together.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
From School Library Journal
"Willems has a talent for creating funny lines, verbally and visually. Beige backgrounds provide an uncluttered stage for his pink creatures with their oversize rectangular heads, each conveying a distinctive personality. Much of the humor resides in the subtle changes in Wilbur's eyes and, of course, in his colorful costumes."

From Booklist
"Willems’ art follows the simple style of his Elephant and Piggie books, and is dominated in color by (no surprise) naked-mole-rat pink. An ongoing horizontal line lends continuity to most of the pages, occasionally curving to add simple architecture to the scenes. But mostly it is Wilbur’s guileless observations that will have young readers feeling good about individual expression."

5. CONNECTIONS
Other books about the importance of individuality, self-expression and acceptance:

• Drescher, Fran. Being Wendy. ISBN 9780448456881
• Munsch, Robert. Stephanie's Ponytail. ISBN 9781550374841
• Seuss, Dr. The Sneetches. ISBN 9780394800899

More from Mo Willems:

• I am a Frog. ISBN 9781423183051
• I Love My New Toy. ISBN 9781423109617
• Knuffle Bunny. ISBN 9780786818709

Use as a playful and comedic way to introduce preschoolers and early elementary children to the importance of self-expression and tolerance within a caring community.