The Wonderful Book

The Wonderful Book

In this delightful story, a lost book transforms into whatever the finder needs it to be. An imaginative and original tale with all the elements of the best and most enduring children's book classics!Deep in the woods, a rabbit finds a mysterious object. "What is this?" he asks. "It looks like a wonderful house for me." And he wriggles inside for a nap. Later he hops away and a bear lumbers by."What is this?" the bear asks. "It looks like a wonderful hat for me." And he puts it on his head. One by one different animals find the object and transform it into whatever they need it to be.But it's not until the little boy comes along and knows exactly what it is. It's a wonderful book! And all the animals gather around to share the truly wonderful story that's inside.From School Library JournalPreS-K-A rabbit comes upon a book lying abandoned in the forest and turns it into a makeshift shelter. A growly bear spies it and wants to use it as a hat. Some mice decide it will make a perfect table and a fox turns it into a bed. When a child comes along, he recognizes the object with delight, sits down, and begins to read aloud. The animals gather round to listen, and the story turns out to be about a rabbit, a bear, some mice, etc. All agree it is a wonderful book. The story is simple, but could lead to a discussion of things intended for one purpose that could be used for another. Gore's watercolor and ink illustrations are simple but subtle and will have broad appeal. Roger Duvoisin's Petunia (Knopf, 1950) still stands as the classic for children to understand what books are really for, but its slightly longer and more complex plot requires a somewhat older audience.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJa(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.From BooklistWhat is that red-jacketed thing with pages on the ground? Rabbit wonders. Slipping inside it, he finds it makes a cozy house. A big brown bear scares off Rabbit and uses it as a hat. But when he loses it, a family of mice find that the item makes a good picnic table. And so it goes, with several other creatures discovering unique uses for this mysterious object. Only when a little boy knowingly picks it up does the book get full use. He reads to the gathered animals a story about, well, a curious little boy who finds a book. The short, straightforward text is well matched by the whimsical, oversize animal figures that fill up the pages. Gore