Eraser by Anna Kang. Illustrated by Christopher Weyant. unpgd. Two Lions/ Amazon Publishing, September 1, 2018. 9781503902589. (Review of finished copy courtesy of Blue Slip Media.)
Happy book birthday tomorrow to Eraser by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant. Prepare to fall in love with school supplies as the duo who brought us You are (Not) Small; That's (Not) Mine and I am (Not) Scared return to induce giggles and groans and, perhaps reassure young perfectionists that making mistakes is not a disaster.
The story starts on the title page, so don't move too quickly past it. Actually, stop and take a really close look at the title on the cover. Genius!
Eraser sure is busy making sure everyone else look good. Pencil is a bit of a glory hog. She sits at the cool table with all the writing utensils, paint brushes and highlighters. Eraser grumps to her friends Sharpener and Ruler that it isn't fair that they get credit for being creative. Eraser is even a bit jealous of Tape and Glue for their ability to bring everyone together. She wants more.
When lunch is over and everyone is called together to work on a new project, she tries to join the creative meeting but is turned away. Undaunted, she comes up with an idea and works through the night on it only to have it unintentionally ruined! No matter what she tries to do, Pencil and her crew laugh at her. So Eraser decides to leave. She packs her belongings into a mint container and exits in the most hilarious way possible. She ends up in the waste basket where she finds appreciation and realizes that, "Mistakes make us great!"
Back at creativity central, things are not going well.
What a great back-to-school read aloud! Grab this book and a kid or a class and get ready to have some fun. Kang's puns and Weyant's signature expressive and energetic art are sure to please. Young readers will delight in finding all the humorous little details and may relate to some of the "class" dynamics going on.
According to the press release, this story was inspired by an essay their daughter wrote while in third grade. "The assignment was to write from the perspective of someone" and their daughter wrote about an eraser who wanted to create. Kate granted permission for her parents to use her idea and four years later, we have Eraser!
As usual, a visit to Anna Kang's website will yield a link to an activity kit, so be sure to stop there. And take a look at the adorable book trailer!
No comments:
Post a Comment