Birdy's Smile Book - Hardcover

Keller, Laurie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805088830 ISBN 13: 9780805088830

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2010

Synopsis

Birdy starts every day by smiling at herself in the mirror. She says you can smile while doing just about anything--brushing your teeth, taking out the garbage, or eating broccoli. Okay, maybe not while eating broccoli. Even people with bad teeth (like our first president, George Washington) should show their toothy grins because there's no such thing as a bad smile. So heed Birdy's advice and practice your smile―you'll need it while reading this book!

This title has Common Core connections

About this title

About the Author:

Laurie Keller is the acclaimed author-illustrator of Do Unto Otters, Arnie, the Doughnut, The Scrambled States of America, and Open Wide: Tooth School Inside, among numerous others. She grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, and always loved to draw, paint and write stories. She earned a B.F.A. at Kendall College of Art and Design, then worked at Hallmark as a greeting card illustrator for seven-and-a-half years, until one night she got an idea for a children's book. She quit her job, moved to New York City, and soon had published her first book. She loved living in New York, but she has now returned to her home state, where she lives in a little cottage in the woods on the shore of Lake Michigan.

From School Library Journal:

K-Gr 3–Redheaded, round-eyed Birdy and her dog, French Fry, take readers through the many reasons to smile. There's not much here in the way of plot or even keen observations: "Smiles make people happy! I try to smile at everyone I see. And most of the time they smile back!" One comment follows another, in no discernible order. A few are entertaining, such as when Birdy decides that if she were food, she'd be cheese, since everyone smiles when a photographer yells, "Cheese!" She describes different smiles, situations, and sayings, and even mentions the relationship between smiling and the release of endorphins. Readers may wonder just how old Birdy is. And that's one of the book's core problems. The bouncy, color-zapped, zany fonts and illustrations would point to the three- to five-year-old set, but the outrageous jokes and puns, along with the missing story line, indicate an older audience. That said, though, it's hard not to smile at the encouraging thoughts and enthusiastic pictures throughout the book. The "mirror" on the last page will tell kids instantly whether Birdy's Smile Book did its job.Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0805088830
• ISBN 13: 9780805088830
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Keller Laurie