Back to School: Rocket Writes A Story by Tad Hills

ROCKET LOVED BOOKS.

HE LOVED TO READ THEM TO HIMSELF OR SIT BY HIS TEACHER THE LITTLE YELLOW BIRD AS SHE READ THEM ALOUD.

ROCKET EVEN LIKED THE WAY BOOKS SMELL.

ROCKET LOVED WORDS, TOO.

And the flip side of reading is writing. Having mastered reading, Rocket feels the need to write, to use all those clever, useful, inspiring words he has collected in a story of his own. He tells all his friends what he plans.

And then...

HE LOOKED DOWN AT THE BLANK PAGE AND THE BLANK PAGE LOOKED BACK AT HIM.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE," HE TOLD HIS TEACHER.

Rocket has writer's block!

His teacher gives him the usual advice. Observe what you see, listen to people that interest you, describe what they do and say, think about how they do it. Write about what you like. And one more thing...

"REMEMBER, STORIES TAKE TIME."

And Rocket does, and as he notices a pine cone and a feather floating down from a tree, his observations take him to a meeting with a shy young owl high in the pine, and as Rocket begins to write, the little owl comes down, closer and closer, to hear what the story is saying.

Tad Hills' latest, Rocket Writes a Story (Schwartz & Wade, 2012) is a worthy follow-up to his best-selling How Rocket Learned to Read (see my review here), with his appealing little pooch Rocket and his enthusiastic quest for literacy, this time venturing out into putting his words into writing his own stories to read to others. Great for a pre-taste of that next grade or for a first-week-of-school read-aloud as the students prepare to put their own special words down in writing.

Blast Off for Reading: How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills

Every fall evening, after chasing leaves, Rocket would lie in his favorite spot under his favorite tree. There he would sniff the neighborhood smells and settle in for a good nap.

But one day... a little yellow bird startled Rocket.

"Aha! My first student. Wonderful!" she sang.

The little bird sets up shop immediately, hangs out her shingle, and dismisses Rocket's protests that he can't read.

"Can't read? FANTASTIC!

Welcome to my class!"

Rocket is not so sure he wants to give up his carefree lifestyle (and his naps) so easily, but the yellow bird begins to read him stories, and Rocket lies down under the tree and just has to listen to a tale of a lost bone.

Eventually Rocket is intrigued and learns the "the wondrous, mighty, gorgeous alphabet, where it all begins," and soon begins to put together sounds and decode the words of stories for himself. His progress is phenomenal. But then, one chilly day, the yellow bird's banner is gone from his tree.

"See you in the glorious spring!" she sang.

"Don't forget words are built one letter at a time!

And Rocket doesn't forget. All through the snowy winter he puts his letters together. W-I-N-D and C-O-L-D, he spells, making new words for the weather for himself. And then one warm day there is a sign in his favorite tree, and Rocket reads it readily--and happily.

CLASS STARTS TOMORROW!

Tad Hills' newest, How Rocket Learned to Read (Schwartz & Wade, 2010) features the author-illustrator's sweet style of illustrations made famous in his beloved Duck and Goose series. For slightly older youngsters, just approaching reading readiness or learning to read, this one pairs beautifully with Louise Yates' new Dog Loves Books, reviewed here September 8, 2010.

Words, Words, Words: Rocket's Mighty Words by Tad Hills

Rocket rides, er, READS again.

Rocket, that newly eager reader pup, is back with a helpful compendium of vocabulary words used in the earlier best-sellers on the joy of books and reading, Rocket's Mighty Words Schwartz & Wade, 2013).

Not a stand-alone story, this book is an adjunct to the previous picture books starring that persistent  pup, Rocket, and his persevering pedagogue, Little Yellow Bird, How Rocket Learned to Read and Rocket Writes a Story (see my reviews here), featuring Hills' fetching illustrations of a chalkboard filled with related words from Rocket's adventures.

This new book joins the publisher's "boxed set" of the two books with a "Reading Tree" word aid, Rocket's Learning Box, and with a nod to kids who prefer plush pets to go with their reading lessons, the admittedly adorable How Rocket Learned to Read Doll, which adds to the fun and appeal of learning to read with Rocket.  Emergent and beginning readers will welcome more of the encouraging example of Rocket, the dog who resisted and then embraced reading and writing.

Friendship Blendship: Mistletoe--a Christmas Story by Tad Hills

MISTLETOE GREETS THE CHILLY MORNING! SNOW IS FALLING. FINALLY IT FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS!

In her bright red boots, mittens and coat and green plaid scarf, Mistletoe loves walking in the snow and can't wait to get her friend Norwell to enjoy it with her.

But Norwell the elephant doesn't like the cold snow. Instead, he invites Mistletoe in for a warm cup of tea, and they spend the day trimming Norwell's Christmas tree. Mistletoe gets her snowy walk going back home as the world fills with snow and the evening turns blue. She still wishes Norwell would walk with her.

But the next day Mistletoe has an idea. She climbs up to the attic and brings down boxes and boxes of yarn left over from projects.

"YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH YARN!" SHE SAYS.

Mistletoe knits nonstop, finding out that it IS possible to need more yarn, which she goes out in the snow to buy.

She knits everywhere, even in the bathtub! At last she folds up her knitting, and loads it up on her sled and walks to Norwell's house, still hoping for a walk in the snow with her friend. Norwell greets her with a gift, his painting of her in the snow. Perfect!

It 'snow surprise to young readers what happens next, in Tad Hills' brand-new Yuletide yarn, Mistletoe: A Christmas Story (Schwartz and Wade, 2020), a happy story of a mouse and elephant in the mold of unlikely friends who find a way to honor each other and their differences, which satisfyingly concludes with a warm-hearted Chrismasy stroll in the snow. Tad Hills' charming illustrations make this one a great gift of a holly-jolly holiday tale. Author-illustrator Tad Hills is also the top-selling creator of How Rocket Learned to Read and sequels and his delightful Duck & Goose series.

Stories from the Trunk: Elephant's Story by Tracy Campbell Pearson

THE DAY GRACIE LOST HER FAVORITE BOOK, ELEPHANT FOUND IT.

Elephant is curious, but he has no idea what a book is for. He gives it an investigative sniff with his long trunk, and...

OOPS! THE WORDS WENT UP HIS TRUNK!

An elephant's trunk can do amazing things, but it is not the perfect place for words. The words tickle his trunk unbearably and soon the inevitable happens.

"AH...AHH... AHHH...CHOOOOO!!

But the "once upon a time" of the words sneeze out in a jumble of letters landing everywhere. Elephant doesn't know how to put the letters back into words, and his friends are no help.

Seal balances some on his nose, but only manages the word SPIN.  Monkey tosses them around, but gets THROW. Alligator tries to take a bite and only produces CHEW.

The others are worse than no help at all. Elephant knows those are the wrong words and puts his long nose to work, snorfing the letters back up again to keep them safe. Then, for additional security, he sits down on the book and waits.

Gracie comes along and spots her favorite story book. But when she pries it out from under Elephant and opens it, something is very wrong.

"WHERE ARE MY WORDS?" SHE ASKED.

Elephant looks guilty. Gracie has an idea where the missing letters are, and a few tickles bring on a very productive sneeze. Gracie gets her letters back, and now she has an inspiration for a novel arrangement of them to tell a new story. Not only can she reload her favorite book with a story, but she and Elephant put the letters together to tell a story about a girl and and an elephant who come up with some new words to tell their own story, in Tracy Campbell Pearson's Elephant's Story (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2013).

In a new twist on the opening premise of the popular Martha Speaks series, Pearson's enticing illustrations pretty much tell the story all by themselves. Her fantasy-cloaked animal characters, clearly an African elephant and other zoo critter friends, are playful stand-ins for youngsters confronting the task of putting letters together into speech, and Gracie, with her jaunty upright topknot, peppermint striped tights, and lavender-dotted backpack, is just the girl to take on the task. With a practiced eye and a creative mind, she immediately sets out to make something personal out of the raw materials of language, to tell a new once-upon-a-time tale of "Gracie, who made a new friend. His name was Elephant." Pearson's charming endpapers reinforce the alphabet with drawings of Elephant obligingly contorting himself into the shape of the 26 letters. As the New York Times takes pains to note, "Like all the best books, this one can be read on several levels, and kids ready for simple deciphering will enjoy Pearson's anagrams."

Elephant's Story plays well with Tad Hills' How Rocket Learned to Read, Rocket Writes a Story, and especially Rocket's Mighty Words. (Read my reviews here.)