It was mother rabit's birthday so all of her kids wanted to draw her a picture. Nicky couldn't decide what he wanted to draw for her though. The rest of the kids told Nicky to hurry because it was time to give mother her presents. Nicky decided finally and got to work and then mother came and asked Nicky what he was drawing. He described a great adventure that the family went on for mother's birthday. She ended up loving all of their pictures! This story shows kids to do their best and their parents will be happy. I would ask kids to write about a time they made a present for someone. ( )

Valeri Gorbachev uses simple sketches for her illustrations that add a whimsical nature to her stories. She focuses her stories' themes around encouragement for children to do their best. In this story, Nicky is drawing his mother a picture for her birthday and he can't decide how what wants to draw. When his mother sees his drawing, she asks him about it and she tells him that it is beautiful and is very proud of him. We see how this positive speech benefits Nicky as he is finally able to finish and his mother displays it with the drawings by his brothers and sisters. ( )