Her Idea

K-Gr 2—Sozi is a girl with a big imagination and a lot of great ideas. The problem is that she has a hard time controlling all of her ideas and staying focused long enough to pick just one. Luckily, a large book comes along to help capture Sozi's many ideas within its pages. Sozi begins to write her own book, which makes for a great story about organization and creativity. Unfortunately, the ending, in which the young girl is eaten by the book, is confusing and throws the perceived message off. The rhyming scheme is also odd at times; the meter often feels clunky and changes sporadically, which will make reading aloud frustrating. Alexander's illustrations have a screenprinted style, and her use of minimal colors makes for a "do-it-yourself" feel, but doesn't quite match the creative nature of the story line, as the scenes depicting Sozi's ideas look too flat on the page.