I haven’t shared about Patricia Polacco’s books in awhile–not because I’ve given up on them, but because I just haven’t brought any home for awhile. I had my big book bag ready to go for the long Easter weekend and forgot all about it! Today I brought it home and I found four of her fabulous books.
Mr. Wayne’s Masterpiece is a story from Patricia’s own childhood. It’s the story of how she overcame her fear of public speaking, saved a school play and became a masterpiece.
Just Plain Fancy was a sweet story about an Amish girl, Naomi, who wishes for just one fancy thing in her life. Providence smiles on her and a strange egg appears in their farmyard. The chick who hatches is just plain fancy. Naomi finds out though that the Amish people do not like fancy things and she is scared of losing her new pet–it’s her fault he’s fancy. Thankfully, the elders don’t see it that way and are enchanted by Fancy.
Naomi and her sister never learn where Fancy came from but observative readers will know.
I liked this story a lot. It made me think of the family down the street from my childhood home who raised peafowl, guinea chickens and other exotics. They were always fun to go see but sooo noisy!
The Lemonade Club is based on a story from Polacco’s daughter’s childhood. Friendship and love helped Polacco’s daughter’s best friend get through chemotherapy for leukemia. Little did the girls know they were also helping their teacher who had breast cancer.
Something About Hensley’s is a story about a fabulous store down the street from Polacco’s current home. It’s the kind of store that always has exactly what you need. Old John, the owner seems to be magical the way he can give you just what you need. He’s also very kind and saves a struggling single parent family.
So there you have it, a few more titles ticked off the list, I’m inspired to read everything by other authors now:
- Jan Brett
- Eve Bunting
- Kevin Henkes (complete)
- Trudy Ludwig (complete)
- Deborah Hopkinson
- Patricia McKissack
- William Steig (complete)
This is just the start of a list. I’m sure there are many many more.
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