Heather Tietz

NCLA Review: When a boy and girl spot their neighbor sitting alone in her house one January day, they devise a plan to present her with a homemade gift each month of the year. The text is a simple, well-executed rhyme structured in a page-a-month format. March, for example, reads, “Three green goodies from lively leprechauns.” While the text is sparse, the pictures fill in the details of the gifts (Shamrock cookies in the above example) and show the developing relationship between the children and their neighbor. The neighbor has a plan of her own; in each picture we see her knitting a gift for the children, which she gives them at the end of the book. By using one color and one number per month, the authors have created a useful book for preschoolers who are learning colors, months, and counting. Older children will be interested in the children’s ingenuity and may be inspired to devise giving projects of their own. Rating: 4 —AMG… (altro)