There's something so special about seeing my son reading with his girl.
Our character cam recently caught this precious moment;
on that day, they were reading about Little Blue Truck.
When they came to visit us, she chose today's PPBF,
and we must have read it a dozen times. 💛
Title: My Turn!
Author/Illustrator: Laura Rankin
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Birth date: November 8, 2016
Suitable for: ages 2-5
Themes: taking turns, fairness, empathy
Brief synopsis: When Pammy and Wyatt play together, she always takes her turn first. When conflict arises and Pammy decides to go play with her brother instead, will their sibling time put her in Wyatt's shoes while teaching her the all-important lesson about taking turns?
Opening page: Every day, my best friend, Wyatt, and I play together.
Resources: Watch a read-aloud {here}.
Read a Kirkus review {here}.
Find a few engaging Taking Turns activities {here}.
Why I like this book: Laura Rankin has an incredible way with infusing lessons into her texts without getting preachy. In this tale, self-proclaimed parade queen Pammy needs to learn the importance of taking turns. When Wyatt doesn't get his turn being in charge, and decides that he's not playing with her anymore, Pammy goes to shoot baskets with her brother. That's where she inadvertently learns her that it's pretty boring and not very fair to never get a turn. Not only that, but "It's no fun to never get a turn."
"I know." Pammy hears Wyatt say from the swing.
Then, something happens: Pammy's crown falls off.
No mention of it, just a critical exclamation mark as
she runs toward Wyatt, to give him his turn on the swing.
Use that as a springboard for your discussion about
how it feels to never get a turn to be in charge.
Conversely, how does it feel to be the queen (or king)?
Our granddaughter loved the illustrations
that bring this sweet story to life.
In the back, a picture of another Laura Rankin fave,
we went to my shelves and read that one, too.
Leah thinks that Ruthie, the fox, is adorable.
It's mostly about honesty and trustworthiness,
but there's also a fairness aspect, so it'd be
worthwhile to compare and contrast the two.
For fun, you could use a piece of yarn to wrap your reader up every time the character in one of the stories does something unfair or dishonest in either of these books. It makes for an interesting lesson on how bad choices can tie us up in ways that can immobilize us.
Check out this book, then head over to Susanna's blog
for today's other PPBFs and some seasonal selections.
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