Chapters

GOONEY BIRD IS ABSURD by Lois Lowry with illustrations by Middy Thomas. Sandpiper/Houghton Mifflin, 2009.

Love the reissue of this Gooney Bird book. Gooney is unchanged, she of the underwear on the head as a brain warmer, of the mismatched on purpose socks. fortunately, her teacher, Mrs. Pidgeon, deals with all manner of different kids in her second grade classroom. Right now, the kids are studying poetry. Mrs. Pidgeon is reading some of the poems her mother wrote, and the students are taking cues from her writing for their own. Lowry celebrates the individual in this series. Short chapters, lots of good humor, and a few tears makes this a terrific book to read aloud. <725>

SQUIRREL'S FUN DAY by Lisa Moser with illustrations by Valeri Gorbachev.Candlewick Press, 2013.

Squirrel wants all of his friends to take some time off and have fun with him. The problem is that squirrel's idea of fun is different from rabbit, mouse, and turtle. Of course, all works out in the end and the friends enjoy a fun day with squirrel. <726>