The Tail of Little Skunk by Marsha Diane Arnold Illustrated by Michael Terry

from goodreads

4 stars

This post is a bit late going up today. It is Olympic fever here and I had to watch what some of the Canadian Athletes were doing! Slope style skiing, is quite the sport. I love the Olympics. And, for the record, I do cheer for other countries from time to time, much to the chagrin of my husband.

Synopsis

Little Skunk lives at the bottom of a mountain. A big scary bear lives at the top of the mountain. Little Skunk asks other animals what they do if they see the bear, as he wants to protect himself. Will Little Skunk find his own protection within?

My Thoughts

Literacy, especially literacy in my children, is very important. I want them to succeed so it is great that they have these learning to read books that have bigger print and simple words. That being said, most of them are so horribly written or have no real story that it is quite painful as the adult listener. I know most of these books are about movies or t.v. shows that kids like, but come on, please have the books be mildly interesting. I am not looking for Newberry Award work here but seriously.

This book was a very pleasant surprise. There was actually a real story. The story didn't have any logic gaps or missing detail. It was just a really nice story that an adult could actually stand. And the kids can read it too!

I like the use of different woodland animals. Often a bluejay isn't a character in a book. So the variety of animals, especially one's not often used in typical woodland set books was nice.

I love how proud the skunk looked at the end when he found out what his secret weapon was. I don't know what it is but I love skunks. They make me smile.

So please look for this book in the stack of other "step into reading books"that will be at your local library. This one is actually a joy to have your kids read to you and not a painful torture. (Seriously, if my kids bring home one more scooby doo or princess book I will go crazy, they are so bad.)

Happy Olympics! Catch some reading in during the commercials, or during the boring hockey games.