There's This Thing

Gr 1–3—A little girl likes "a thing" and wants to like it "even more." She's shy, however, and can't address the thing outright. She attempts sending an invitation, leaving a trail of crumbs, setting a trap, and even trying to become someone else, such as a scientist or lion tamer. But the invitation is undeliverable, the crumbs and trap attract the wrong thing, and, well, she can't really be anyone but herself. Nor can she say any of the things stored in her head. When she's almost given up hope, though, the object of her desire—a boy—comes bearing a heart-shaped balloon and asks to sit next to her. The digitally created cartoons depict an expressive red-haired girl, often in spot illustrations, plotting her strategies. There are many visual metaphors and clues throughout: several heart shapes indicating the "thing" is a love interest; a sign on a building revealing that the girl is leading a parade along "Hope Street;" a key store seen behind the girl as she ponders a way to open her locked heart; and the boy she likes looking out at her from an apartment window. Yet despite these clues, kids may be confused by the incongruous depiction of a shy girl leading a parade with gusto and reference to what she wants as a "thing." Is that "thing" friendship, a person, or both? Shy children would be better served by Melanie Watts's Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend (Kids Can, 2011).—Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Greenwich, CT