It Just Never Gets Old

We are up to quality number 3 that makes a picture book superb.  Just to recap, my first two qualities are simplicity and a big, important message.

I will warn you...I am a teacher...school starts Tuesday...I should not be blogging right now.  So I am going to keep this post short and sweet and then attend to my teacher-ly duties.

The third thing that makes a book fantastic for me is the fact that I want to read it over and over and over again.  The book I picked up at Vroman's is one of these for me.  Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell and illustrated by David Catrow is one of the most amazing books ever written, ever.  I used to have a copy and it disappeared into the hands of a child who I know needed it more than I did.

In this book, Molly Lou Melon's grandmother gives her a bunch of advice.  She is supposed to sing out loud, even though she sounds like, "a bull frog being squeezed by a boa constrictor."  She is supposed to smile big even though her buck teeth stick out so far, "she could stack pennies on them."  Molly Lou Melon is a special girl who could hide behind all these qualities.

Her determination is tested when she moves to a new town and meets Ronald Durkin at her new school.  (By the way, this book gets extra points for coming up with the name Ronald Durkin. Best. Bad. Kid. Ever.)  Ronald picks on her and instead of cowering, she takes her grandmother's advice.

Simple.  Big message.  Have read it at least 209 million times.  Lovely, wonderful, thought.