Pistes d'exploration

Discuss what makes a friend. Do you do all the things mentioned in the book?

Write a list of things you like to do with your friends.

Draw a picture of yourself and a friend and write about what you are doing together. Assemble the class productions into a big book.

Using verbs from the book, construct complete sentences that explain the actions associated with them.

Discuss what you like in a friend. What do you like to do with your friend?

Make a class list of the verbs used in a classroom (e.g. share, participate, talk, listen). Are there verbs in the book that apply to the classroom as well?

Draw a picture of you and a friend, and write about what you are doing together. Assemble the class productions into a big book.

Ruby the Copycat, An Extraordinary Egg, In My Heart: A Book of Feelings, Friendship Is Like a Seesaw

Mots-clés

Picture book , emotions , friendship , illustrations (crayons) , monsters , verbs

Commentaire descriptif

This is a book of very few words—verbs to be precise. Each spread offers one verb, such as “play,” “tease” or “trust,” coupled with a stunning illustration of monster friends that embody its meaning. Beginning readers, or those new to English, will enjoy sounding out the words, scrawled in pretty colours. Both type and illustrations are set against a black background, which provides an excellent foil for the lively drawings in thick, rich, oil pastel. Readers of any age will delight in these cute, expressive and artful monsters that are rendered with such an energetic range of markings. “Embarrass” is illustrated by a blue fellow with burning red cheeks: his little earsantennae point inward; his horns droop. Colour is applied variously in blotches, smudges and thin scratchy lines. In “cuddle”, one small monster hugs the enormous rhino-horned nose of another. His pale body and green shirt pop against the red skin of his massive friend. Through “laugh” and “fight,” through thick markings and thin, readers will relate to this book’s portrayal of the many shades and moods of friendship.