Laura Nyman Montenegro

A dresser lives in the basement of a furniture shop because it is looked down upon from having one stuck drawer. The dresser is sad and lonely and it dreams of having a better life. Soon, a poor girl, Sophia rescues the dresser from the shop. She has no money to pay for it but the store owner says to take it now and pay in a week. Later, when she still has not paid, furniture movers come into her home and take the dresser back. Just as they are moving the dresser out of Sophia’s home the stuck drawer opens and a small package falls out. Sophia discovers that inside the small package is a magical costume and mask. She puts this on and performs in the street. Pedestrians like her entertainment and give her enough money to buy back the dresser. This story is pretty strange and a little too far fetched for a reader to become invested. Themes of this story revolve around dreams, happiness, and diversity. I do not think I would incorporate this book into my classroom because I do not feel like that it could significantly impact a student or a lesson.… (meer)

A little girl named Natalie opens her bird’s cage and Chirpie fly’s out and into a tree. They call the bird poets to get her down again. The poets come and each have a different idea about how to get her to come down. One says they should be still like a statue, another says to wiggle like a worm, one tries singing like a bird but nothing works. Then someone suggests building a bird garden so they gather seeds for birds to eat, they put out bowls of water, plant bushes to hide in and yarn to build a nest with. Still no bird. Then they spot a cat slinking around. They shoo the cat away and turn back to see lots of birds filling the garden including Chirpie.

This book was alright. It didn’t start rhyming until the poets showed up so that was interesting to connect the rhymes with the title of poet. I think the pictures would be something small children would like since it’s something similar to what they would do.

1. Could be used in a lesson to introduce poetry and what a poet is since the rhyming didn’t start until the poets were introduced in the story.
2. Could be used in a lesson about birds to show what birds like and need to live.… (meer)

This book is about a little bird that escapes from her cage and flies into a tree. A group of poets try to get the bird back in its cage with all there ideas.

This book is ok for me. There could of been more rhyming in the story and the story really didnt interest me. The pictures are nice in the story they are very colorful.

I believe an activity you can do for this book is to maybe talk with children about there homes. They can draw there favorite things about there home and what makes there home home for them. Its a good activity to learn more about the child and gets them to better there artistic skills.… (meer)

A simple dresser sits in the "dark and clammy" basement of a furniture store, its stuck bottom drawer rendering it unsalable. A girl named Sophia falls in love with the dresser; although she doesn't have enough money to pay for it, the shopkeeper lets her take it, provided that she promises to pay the following week. Sophia and the reclaimed piece of furniture spend many happy hours together, dimmed only by the fact that the girl still lacks the required money. One terrible night, men come to repossess the dresser--a struggle ensues, the drawer comes unstuck and a parcel pops out. Now sitting forlornly in a store window, the dresser sees a crowd gathering around a dancing tiger, which proves to be Sophia. The tiger costume hidden in the stuck drawer is the instrument of the two friends' reunion. In Montenegro's debut picture book, a melodramatic mood is cast by the unusual pen-and-ink and wash illustrations.… (meer)