#43 Mysterious Traveler by
Mal Peet & Elspeth Graham
4 cheers!
The Sahara. A blind
guide. A baby found in the desert.
Sitting on my couch
at home, curled up in my favorite grey blanket, I devoured this thin book in
about 20 minutes. The words in the story are like music; the descriptions are
full & rich. Nearly every page has gorgeous mixed media illustrations that
take you right into the desert. The
story wraps you up in admiration for nature’s beauty and praise for God’s hand,
all without overtness, all done with ease and delight.
It was a delicious and
satisfying book. I will be adding it
to my list of read-alouds for next school year, particularly when we start
discussing elements of strong writing. These authors give a beautiful example
of using strong descriptions. Great as a mentor text! I also love how there are
many places where the reader has to infer what happened using the few details
that the author gives. So many learning opportunities in this book—a huge
bonus, because the story itself is a journey. I will be very careful not to make this book into too much of a lesson and
take away the magic. Can’t wait to share it with my students!
This one sounds so good! I love your last comment that you'll have to be careful not to turn it into too much of a lesson and lose the magic! I think that's why I still struggle with a lot of classics - my teachers stole the magic! Thanks for not doing that to your students! Thanks so much for linking up on Booknificent Thursday this week. Always love to have you!
ReplyDeleteTina