Posted on by TracyC

Two Wheels for Grover

Two Wheels for Grover by Dan Elliott, illustrated by Joe Mathieu, 1984.

Grover is happy about going to visit his aunt, uncle, and cousins in the country, but the visit becomes a little awkward when his cousin Rosie wants him to go bike riding with her. Grover doesn’t know how to ride a bike.

He points out to Rosie that he doesn’t have a bike to ride, but she offers to lend him one. Not wanting to admit that he can’t ride a bike and being too afraid to learn how, Grover keeps making excuses about why he can’t ride a bike.

There are still plenty of other fun things to do with his cousins, but the problem of not being able to ride a bike still bothers Grover. Rosie keeps trying to find ways around Grover’s excuses, and Grover keeps trying to find new ones. Secretly, he wishes that he could ride a bike with Rosie, but he is too afraid that he can’t. Grover’s older cousin Frank points out to him that he loves playing in the tree house now, even though he used to be afraid to climb up to it.

Grover eventually confides in Frank his worries about riding a bike, and Frank understands. Big Bird once tried to teach Grover to ride a bike, but he couldn’t do it then, and he doubts whether he can learn. Frank says that the problem is that Big Bird’s bike was too big for Grover, but he could learn to ride a smaller bike, like Frank’s old one.

Although Grover is still nervous, he lets Frank teach him to ride, and soon, he discovers that he can ride a bike!

Grover learns to ride a bike just in time for Rosie to come and tell them that someone is giving away kittens. Now, Grover can ride over with Rosie to get a kitten for himself!

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive. It’s part of a series of picture books with the Sesame Street characters.

My Reaction:

This was a favorite book of mine when I was a kid, even though I found riding a bike much harder than Grover did. Some kids, like me, have more difficulty learning to balance than others, and it was often hard when other kids wanted me to come riding bikes with them when I couldn’t. Learning to ride a bike is one of those rites of passage that most people have during childhood, and it can be difficult for people who take longer to learn.

However, this book focuses on the rewards of perseverance. Just because Grover had trouble the first time he tried to learn to ride a bike doesn’t mean that he can’t do it. Frank understands that Grover is nervous about riding a bike, and it helps that he points out that there are other things that Grover has found difficult before that are now easy and fun for him, like climbing into the tree house. Learning new things can take time and multiple tries, but there are rewards for those who keep trying!

Posted on by TracyC

Owl Babies

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson, 1992.

Sarah, Percy, and Bill are three owl babies who live in a tree with their mother. One night, they wake up and can’t find their mother. They think it over, and they decide that she has probably gone out to get food for them.

They wait for her and try to be brave, but they get worried that she isn’t coming back. Then, suddenly, their mother does come home!

The little owls are happy to see their mother, and their mother reminds them, “You knew I’d come back.”

It’s common for children to worry when their parents go away without them, wondering if they will ever come back. The story reminds young children that, even when mommy has to go away for a while, she will still come back home.

The book is available to borrow for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

Ira Sleeps Over

IraSleepsOver

Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber, 1972.

Ira, a young boy, is happy when his friend, Reggie, who lives next door, invites him to sleep over at his house. Then, his sister asks him if he’s going to take his teddy bear with him. At first, Ira says no, but his sister points out that he’s never slept without it.

Ira starts to worry about whether he should take the teddy bear with him or not. He worries that Reggie might laugh at him for having a teddy bear. His parents say that he won’t and that Ira should go ahead and take the bear with him. However, his sister says that Reggie probably will laugh.

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Ira tries to talk to Reggie and sound him out on the idea of teddy bears to see if Reggie will laugh, but Reggie ignores Ira’s questions. Reggie is excited about all the things that he and Ira can do at the sleepover and eagerly explains his plans. It all sounds like fun, but Ira gets nervous when Reggie mentions ghost stories.

IraSleepsOverReggie

Ira continues to debate about whether or not he should take his bear with him. Before going over to Reggie’s house, he decides to leave his teddy bear at home.

The two boys have a lot of fun playing together at the sleepover. At bedtime, Reggie starts to tell a ghost story, and both of the boys are a little spooked. That’s when Ira discovers that Reggie has a teddy bear of his own.

IraSleepsOverTeddy

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

This is a nice story about how the things that we worry other people will find ridiculous or embarrassing are often more common and less embarrassing than we think. At first, Ira worries (because of what his sister said) that Reggie will think that his teddy bear, named Tah Tah, is silly and childish, but after discovering that Reggie has a teddy bear named Foo Foo, Ira realizes that Reggie will understand how he feels about his bear and decides to run home and get it.  Reggie probably dodged Ira’s earlier questions about teddy bears because he was similarly worried about what Ira would think of his bear.  Sometimes, when people really open up to each other and talk honestly about the way they feel, they learn that other people have shared their feelings and experiences more than they might have thought.

Posted on by TracyC

A Hug for a New Friend

HGHugFriend

A Hug for a New Friend by Janet Anderson, illustrated by Ron C. Lipking, 1985.

Sarah is worried because her usual babysitter, Kim, is sick, and her mother says that she will have to have a new one until Kim is better.  Her temporary new babysitter is named Laura, and Sarah will meet her the next morning. Sarah really likes Kim, and she worries that her new babysitter will be mean or not like her.

When Sarah wakes up the next morning, before she goes to meet Laura, she sees an odd little person in her bedroom mirror. This odd little person is Tickles, one of the Hugga Bunch. She says that she likes making new friends, but Sarah isn’t sure that she feels the same way.

HugFriendMirror

Tickles says that she came to see Sarah because she saw her looking sad and invites her to come to Huggaland with her to meet the other Hugga Bunch. Sarah worries at first about what the other Hugga Bunch will be like and whether they’ll like her, but she is amazed at what she sees. Huggaland is soft and colorful, and everyone is very friendly.

HugFriendHuggaland

She asks Tickles how they can all like her when they don’t know her, and they explain that being friendly to other people encourages them to be friendly in return. That’s really how friends are made. When Sarah comforts one of the Hugga Bunch after she drops a tray of lemonade, she sees what they mean. Her kind gesture has earned her a new friend.

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When Sarah returns home and goes to meet her new babysitter, she discovers that Laura is actually rather sweet and shy, not mean, as Sarah feared. Sarah greets Laura with a friendly hug, and the two of them become friends.

HugFriendLaura

The Hugga Bunch’s advice to immediately start a new friendship with a hug may be somewhat awkward in real life, but the idea that kindness and friendly gestures inspire others to respond with kindness and friendship is a good one.