From: Kathleen Horning <horning>
Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2003 12:52:57 -0600

I'm forwarding this message from Mary Tichey-Staack:

Hi there, I read with each of my five classes of first graders last week, My Friend Rabbit, by Eric Rohmann and they LOVED it. We talked about the Caldecott medal and mentioned the local press that printed the book. (We live about 10 minutes from Brookfield). But the best part was how much they got from the way the author used the carefully selected and expressive pictures to tell the story. It is a predictable story and that was excellent for this age group. The children were able to pick up the fact that it was the eyes of the characters that told most of the story and inferred a great deal from them. As an adult, it is very simplistic, but has a charm and I do love the artwork. The hippo sleeping through it all was a great little touch the kids also enjoyed. If you look at the book from a drafting viewpoint, it is so clever. The duckling page is almost empty but sets the stage for the very following full page of all the animals tumbling down. There are many places where less is more and in the case of the parade of animals page where the rabbit is bringing the alligator, bear, etc. the combining of a repetitive activity to the two pages works comically to shorten the amount of pages without sacrificing story. The juxtaposition and use of negative space keeps this simple story from slowing down. It is a delight for the eye. I also have to say I would never have given this book a second glance had it not won the medal. Mary Tichey-Staack, librarian Branchville Elementary School Ridgefield, CT 06877
Received on Tue 04 Feb 2003 12:52:57 PM CST