PPBF/ Thumbelina

Hi Friends!

How are you today? Tomorrow is the weekend so happy Friday. And here is another Perfect Picture Book Friday and a retelling of a Fairy Tale for you.

Thumbelina

Title: Thumbelina

Author/ Illustrator: Susan Jeffers

Themes: retelling fairy tale, kindness, relationships

Publishing info: Dutton Children’s Books, 2005, originally published by Dial Books for Young Readers in 1979, fairy tale

Resources: This is a great site I just found and could have used for my other two fairy tales as well. It is from the university presses. It is for Thumbelina though not by this author, even though it will be greatly informative. 

And here are Hans Christian Anderson’s fact sheets and teacher lessons. Here you can get a pdf of lesson plans for Thumbelina.

First Three Sentences: “Once there was a woman who wanted a child more than anything in the world. At last in loneliness and sorrow, she spoke to a witch. ‘That’s as easy as winking!’ said the witch.

What the Jacket says: Join tiny Thumbelina on her magical journey from lost child to happy bride in this elegant edition of the classic story. Born in a flower, Thumbelina bravely makes her way in an enormous world, helping those who are even more powerless than herself. Through selfless acts of kindness and courage, Thumbelina finally finds a home in a kingdom of people just her size.

Among our most popular fairy tales, Thumbelina reminds readers that the smallest among us can wield extraordinary power. Exquisitely detailed paintings by celebrated artist Susan Jeffers capture Thumbelina’s delicate beauty and invoke a wonder of the natural word that will fascinate and inspire children of any age.

Why I love it: The art itself is so delicate I wish I were an artist and could paint pictures like this. I would immerse myself in it every day and feel like I lived in this beautiful landscape. I would love flying on the sparrow and seeing the earth unfold below me. The text is much more quantity than is allowed now a days with a big word count but for older children I think their attention would be kept with the story line and plot. However for the tiniest children to see that they could make a difference I would try reading it aloud to them. I believe all picture books should be read aloud. On laps or cuddled up close together.

Gifts for my writer friends:

Click HERE to find a list and links to the 62 top writing articles from 2013 in Writer’s Digest. 

And click here:   to see what Oprah has to say about how to make your writing better.

As Laura Renault says in her PPBF posts:

  “Craving more Perfect Picture Books? Author Susanna Leonard Hill compiles weekly book reviews from bloggers at www.susannahill.blogspot.com. Visit Fridays or click the Perfect Picture Books tab at her website for a subject listing.”

© 2013  Clara Bowman-Jahn/ Clarike Bowman-Jahn

See you next Tuesday!  I’m going to give you another reason why I’m so scared these days. 

XXxOOOo