I was drawn in by the cover, because yarn. Very cute story. ( )

kindness and sharing.

Characters: Black sheep, three kittens, horse, dog, mouse, pig, bird

Setting: Winter, Black sheep's Victorian cabin

Theme: Sharing

Summary: Mrs. Sheep waves goodbye to her master, the dame, and the little boy. After their departure, three little kittens visit asking for milk, a pig for slop, a horse for hay, a dog for bones, a bird for seed, and a mouse for cheese. But Mrs. Sheep says no to all of them. Later they all together visit Mrs. Sheep to ask why she turned all of them down only to find out that she has a woolen surprise for everyone. She has knitted mittens for kittens, a hat for the pig, a shawl for the horse, and clothes for the mouse, the bird, and the dog. Everyone has come to value sharing and revisits Mrs. Sheep with handful of presents.

Review: The author's retake on an old rhyme is very entertaining. The use of watercolor delivers warmth and matches well with the book's theme. The teacher can sing the story with small children since the rhythm and melody are prevalently well known, while playing a muppet show. The teacher can also use voicethread to record students reading (or singing) each line of the book. If the teacher wants to make it a take home assignment, students can record at home with parents, facilitating parent involvement. It is a great book to keep in the class library.

Curriculum ties: Language arts (rhyme, vocabulary), science (winter, snow), art (color, knitting), music ( )

Part Bb/Picture Book

Trapani, I. (2001). Baa baa black sheep. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

Trapani takes the traditional nursery rhyme of “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and creates a story that is sure to grab the attention of young readers. Many animals go to the black sheep looking for different kinds of food. Each animal is always denied, so the animals begin to think that the black sheep is unkind and will not share. They finally realize that the black sheep is kind and has been spending time knitting gifts for each of the animals. Ages 4-7. ( )

Begins with the well known nursery rhyme. What follows is a mess. Every one of the animals in the town come to the sheep asking her for something. She doesn't have what they need and kindly tells them so. Apparently the animals are offended and join together to confront the sheep. They call her unkind, "mean," and complain that she knits all day. The illustration for this page is complete with all of the animals in a posture of righteous indignation. All is well when the the sheep shows them the beautiful things she has been knitting them. Then they back off, because she has finally given them something. Sure in the end they all promise to share when they have something special to give, but what about being angry when someone has nothing to give? Is it right to expect others to give what they don't have simply because we ask? ( )