Written By: Audrey Wood
Published By: Scholastic, Inc. New York. February 1995.
Summary: Silly Sally is making her way to town in silly ways. Along the way she meets different characters who then join her in her silly ways to town. She meets animals, one was a sheep and they all went to sleep. She could not get to town while sleeping, so a helpful character Neddy Buttercup wakes them up with tickles. He continued on with them in their strange trek to down, in his own silly way.
Recommendation for Parents: This story book is a great book to get children interested in reading. It is filled with humor and really excites the imagination. While reading, the sing-song flow makes it easy to follow and to be actively engaged in listening. Once the child hears the story, it becomes easy for them to fill in the blanks as the story is repetitious and predecitable. Silly Sally is a great beginner book that is enjoyable to read.
Recommendation for Teachers: Besides being an enjoyable and humorous book, Silly Sally uses repetition which is beneficial for English Language Learners. The funny illustrations lend a hand towards the story line and can aid in teaching the sequence of events for beginning and English Language Learner readers.
Personal Note: This story is a fun read that sparks the imagination. The sing-song flow of the story makes it easy to read and easy for kids to join in the reading process. This book can help build a child's confidence in reading due to its predictability. It is a great story to read aloud to a group of kids or for a beginning reader to read alone and feel successful.
Written By: David Shannon
Published By: Scholastic, Inc. New York. April 1999.
Summary: Camilla Cream loves lima beans, but never ate them because all of her friends hated them. She just wanted to fit in. She worried very much about what other people thought about her, so on the first day of school she tried on many outfits, trying to find the perfect one. As she tried on all her outfits, suddenly she became covered in stripes. Her mother told her she was not going to school, which was a relief. Camilla was worried about what the other kids would say if she showed up with stripes from head to toe. The doctor came and told her that as long as she did not feel sick, that she was fine to go to school. The next day at school she became covered in red, white, and blue stripes with white stars when she said the Pledge of Allegiance. She became the joke of the school. Kids began calling out random patterns and they would show up on Camilla's skin! Camilla was sent home from school for being a distraction. She was so embarassed! Her father asked what he could do to cheer her up. She said nothing, but she really wanted a big bowl of lima beans. Since everyone hated lima beans, she couldn't ask for them because that would give them another reason tease her. Over the next couple of days, countless doctors came to look at her but could not determine what was wrong. TV reporters came and huge crowds developed outside Camilla's house. She continued to change into anything anyone would say. Her condition was getting worse and worse! Then a sweet old lady came and offered to help. She offered Camilla some lima beans. Camilla really wanted them but refused because "No one likes lima beans." She eventually decided to eat them and instantly her stripes, branches, feathers, and colors disappeared. After that moment, Camilla became herself again. The kids thought she was weird, but she didn't care. She ate all of the lima beans she wanted.
Recommendation for Teachers: The moral in this story is an excellent jumping off point for creating a welcoming classroom community. It shows that children are different, but we should accept all children for who they are. Individuality is important and so in tolerance for individual differences. The illustrations support English Language Learners. They are very graphic and follow the sequencing of the story. The pictures can aid in the understanding of the content. A Bad Case of Stripes also gives the opportunity to expand student's vocabulary in the primary grades when read as a group.
Personal Note: This story is very entertaining. It takes a good lesson learned and puts a silly twist on it. At the beginning of the year it can help students feel more comfortable in being themselves and being proud of who they are. Connections can be made on many different levels to student's own lives, thus making the story more memorable. The illustrations are humorous and create excellent visual images that stick in your mind.