You know, I made the list for Perfect Picture Books, and I checked it twice :) ... actually thrice and then some, and the book I've chosen for today does not appear on it yet... but I still have a niggling-nagging feeling in the back of my mind that someone has already done it. Jennifer? Renee? Penny? Erik? Maybe I'm imagining things. But sometimes posts get written and I read them, but the link doesn't make it onto the linky list, which can result in the book not making it onto the PPB list. If that is what happened in this case, please forgive me and send me your link ASAP! Other times, I add the books to the list and blogger spazzes out and drops them. (I hate when that happens!) (Or it might just be that sometimes I am very nearsighted and/or sleepy and/or not too bright, so maybe it's there and I just missed it!) But since I couldn't find it on the list and I love it, I'm going to go ahead and post it!
Written By: James Howe
Illustrated By: Randy Cecil
Candlewick, 2010, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 4-8
Themes/Topics: following your dreams, acceptance, dance, perspective, friendship, kindness
Opening: "Brontorina had a dream.
"I want to dance!"
"But you are a dinosaur," Madame Lucille pointed out.
"True," Brontorina replied. "But in my heart I am a ballerina.""
Brief Synopsis: Brontorina longs to dance... but she is awfully large to be a ballerina. Madame Lucille is kind, however, and gives Brontorina a chance to learn dance at her studio. Alas, it appears that although Brontorina is graceful, she really is too big. And she certainly doesn't have the right shoes. But just when disappointment seems inevitable, her friends figure out that sometimes it's all in how you look at it.
Links To Resources: Story Hour Kit from Candlewick, Apatosaurus Coloring Page, A Guide To Ballet For Kids And Parents, as well as discussion topics: what is something you dream of doing? is it okay to dream things that might seem out of reach?
Why I Like This Book: I love that Brontorina has a dream and pursues it, even though to some it might not seem a realistic dream. Isn't this what we hope for all our kids? That they will dream big and have the courage to pursue their passions? And sometimes the value is in the dreaming and the pursuit, not necessarily in how successful you end up being (although success is nice too :))
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
Now then! I have to announce the winner of last week's game! Remember I asked you all to guess how many Perfect Picture Books you thought were on the list as of September 21?
But first I have to explain what made me think of the game to start with. In the interest of spreading the word and having people make use of all our hard work, Beth Stilborn thought it would be a great idea to have bookmarks for Perfect Picture Books that anyone who is interested could hand out to their local librarian, school teachers, friends, etc. I concurred with Beth! So the lovely and talented Alison Hertz took Loni Edward's beautiful badge design and transformed it into a book mark! But we wanted to put on the book mark how many books were already listed. So I counted. And once I knew, I thought it would be fun to see if you could guess. So that's how the game got started.
Here's a sneak peek at the front of the bookmark:
I am dithering over the language on the back, but once I sort it out, I will order bookmarks and anyone who wants some to hand out to their above-mentioned local librarians, school teachers, friends etc. can email me and I'll send you some! The more we spread the word the better. Everyone works hard to make Perfect Picture Books a great resource, so I want lots and lots of people to make use of it :)
Anyhoo, to make a long story a little bit longer, we had lots of guesses, ranging from Tracy's guess of 100 all the way up to Joanna's (very optimistic :)) guess of 3758! :) The actual number of unique books at the time of counting (as per the instructions, books that have been posted 2 or 3 times were only counted as 1 book) was 740. So the winner is Pat who guessed 750 - only off by 10! (with Jarm a very close second with 727 only off by 13!) Pat, your prize, as mentioned, is a pack of Super Duper Awesomely Inspiring Susanna Hill Special Story Sparker Cards! Email me your address and I'll mail them to you :) And with number-picking ability like that, you should probably trot right out and play the lottery :)
Now then, off you go to enjoy everyone's Perfect Picture Book picks for the week (PPBF bloggers, please leave your post specific link on the list below so we can find you :)).
And I hope you all have a fabulous Columbus Day Weekend!!!
