Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I Don't) (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I Don't) Jeannette Hulick Bottner, Barbara . Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I Don't); illus. by Michael Emberley. Knopf, 2010. 26p. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-94682-0$20.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-84682-3$17.99 R 5-7 yrs The first-grade girl who narrates this story is not a fan of the printed page, despite the best efforts of her enthusiastic school librarian, Miss Brooks, who regularly dons elaborate costumes and reads the class a dismaying (to the narrator) variety of books. When our protagonist has to find a story she likes to share with the class (and wear a corresponding costume) for Book Week, the girl grumpily despairs, until a comment by her mother ("You're as stubborn as a wart") finally leads her to her kind of book: William Steig's Shrek. Filled with new purpose, the girl happily practices her presentation, even making stick-on warts for her classmates to wear, and both librarian and student rejoice at this newly kindled passion for a book. Head and shoulders above the usual purposive pro-library materials, this will undoubtedly resonate with children who just haven't bought into the pleasure of books yet and also with the librarians or other adults trying to win them over. Bottner's comically wry, no-nonsense text ("I ask my mother if we can move to a new town. My mother says there's a librarian in every town") is a stitch to read aloud. Emberley's illustrations (drawn with pencil, then scanned and printed onto watercolor paper and painted with watercolor) are cheerfully casual, with the figures posed against lots of refreshing white space. The bespectacled girl in her slouchy striped sock cap, bedraggled brown hair, and overalls is clearly one tough (if short) customer, while Miss Brooks is a long, tall figure with a riot of sproingy brown hair (frequently bedecked with theme-appropriate accessories) and colorfully eccentric costumes. This would make a great beginning-of-the-year class read or preparation for a Book Week celebration for aficionados and resisters alike. Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois