PICTURE BOOK - Rosie Sprout's Time to Shine - Allison Wortche

2011, Knopf Books For Young Readers

HC/Paper $Cost

40 pages

Goodreads rating: 4.14

My rating: 4

My comments:  There's Violet in almost every class or group....or family.  The one that has to be the best at everything, even if it's only a tiny bit better.  Sometimes this kid's a bully, oftentimes they're not.  This book takes a good look at that kid ... and at the quiet kid that's just as good and never in the forefront.  This is a great, simple story -  I used it at the start of school.  

DISCUSS:  Setting, theme, protagonist, antagonist, illustrations, What do plants need to grow?

ACTIVITIES:  Decorate pots, grow plants from seeds

Goodreads:  Violet runs the fastest, sings the highest, looks the fanciest, and talks the loudest. Everyone agrees that she's the best.

     Except Rosie. Rosie isn't fast, or loud, or fancy, but she's tired of hearing that Violet is the best. 
     When their class grows pea plants, Rosie's and Violet's are the first to sprout! But Violet's is a little taller. So Rosie pushes some soil over Violet's sprout to slow it down. And for a moment, Rosie's plant is the best—but she feels terrible. And she feels even worse when she learns that Violet has the chicken pox.
     So for the next two weeks, Rosie waters her plant—and Violet's too. She turns them in the sun, and sings them quiet growing songs. And her teacher says that Rosie is the best gardener she's ever had. Definitely the best.
     This empathetic story captures every child's desire to be noticed and praised, and the subtle competitions that go on in a classroom. It's a book to swell every shy child's heart.