Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Pie - Judy Sierra

Illustrated by Edward Koren (with "delicious drawings")
2006
Rating: 3.5
$16.95
Endpapers: 16 evenly spaces one-inch flies, swishes of black on white

Ashley showed me this book when we went to the Ellsworth Public Library yesterday. Her first-grade teacher, Ms. Reddish-Smith, had read it to her. I read it to Ashley and Brendan this morning. It has a great rhyming chant with really cool word choices. "Thelonius urgently e-mailed a spider. He wanted advice from a savvy insider." He creates a pie in which a multitude of flies with glittery wings get their feet stuck. They all flap their wings and away it filies! Great, fun rhythmic verse.

With delicate swishes of a black pen, Edward Koren creates hairy monsters and hairy pies and hairy flies An occasional smear of lime green to color in the fly's wings, green font or white font on green background, and this simple book comes to life. I'd love for my students to try this sort of illustration.

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