Mr. Floop's Lunch - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 1-- One beautiful day, gentle Mr. Floop takes his lunch to the park. When he shares a bit of his roll with a bird, the other birds come and eat until the roll is gone. In like fashion he feeds his sausages to the dogs, his peanuts to the squirrels, and his milk to the kittens. Just as he is beginning to feel alone and hungry, a woman who often feeds the creatures comes along and shares her lunch and conversation with Mr. Floop. Soft watercolors illustrate the simple story so literally that beginning readers will be encouraged, and the repetition will attract young listeners as well. This is a satisfying story that will evoke fond memories from anyone who has ever shared a picnic on a fine, leisurely day. --Carolyn Jenks, Oyster River Elementary School, Durham, NH POLACCO, Patricia. Thunder Cake. illus. by author. unpaged. CIP. Philomel. Mar. 1990. RTE $14.95. ISBN 0-399-22231-6 . LC 89-33405. Kindergarten-Grade 3-- A small girl, terrified of thunder, visits her Russian grandmother's farm during a sultry summer in Michigan. Slowly and gently, Grandmother explains how to make a "thunder cake." The ingredients are assembled--eggs from the henhouse when the storm is still ten miles away, milk from the cow, eight miles. The secret ingredients are picked from the garden with the storm coming closer, only five miles now. The cake is mixed, baked, and then enjoyed while thunder crashes directly overhead. The little heroine, by working steadily with her loving Babushka, is now convinced that she is brave enough to endure storms, if not with tranquility, at least with poise. Polacco's art is a delightful mix of media--crayon, watercolor, pencil, perhaps even charcoal. She omits the flesh tones from the characters' faces, allowing the pencil shadings to give vivid expression. Russian designs are tucked into almost every double-page spread--the icons displayed on tiny shelves, the embroidered clothes, the samovar, the brightly painted furniture, the decorated crockery. All comes together with great affection for readers of any ethnic background. These pictures are a feast for the eyes, and Thunder Cake is a feast for the spirit. --Ruth Semrau, Lovejoy School, Allen, TX
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.