Book Recommendation for December

Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book

by Julia Donaldson

This picture book is a fractured fairy tale, meaning that it has fairy tale elements like “once upon a time” and sets of 3 (3 bears) but it is a modern fairy tale with unexpected twists in the story. The story is also a frame story, with a story within a story within a story. The bright and colourful illustrations help the reader keep track of what is happening and there are hints on each page about what is going to happen next. There are lots of twists and turns, and funny things that happen.

Like many of Julia Donaldson’s other books, this story is written as a poem with a rhyming pattern. The story’s rhyme and rhythm are fun to read, and pieces of many fairy tales are included in this modern tale.

This book is in our classroom and I will check to see if the school's library has other Julia Donaldson books.

I rate this story 5 Stars out of 5.

Thank you to J. who wrote a raving review for The Secret World of Og. We have this book in our classroom and he read it over the summer. We’ve made a “We Recommend” book area where I’ve put copies of the book reviews and books that I have recommended on our class’s blog onto a shelf and bulletin board. I’ve encouraged students to recommend books that they have enjoyed too. J. is the first to finish a recommendation and put it up, although I know of 2 other students working on their own recommendations. Since putting up J.’s review, another student in the class is already reading this fantastic book. What a great way to share really good books that are interesting to grade 4s and to encourage a love of reading.

Mrs. S