I Want Your Moo: A Story for Children About Self-Esteem (Gold Medal Winner, Teacher's Choice Awards)
Kindergarten-Grade 3—Toodles the Turkey is a dissatisfied fowl willing to take on anyone's attributes except her own. She might have been content to remain a little yellow feather-ball with a neat "cheep-cheep." But now she's full grown with brown feathers, stick legs, and a gobble-gobble that is neither cute nor sweet, and she's in search of an alternate identity. She would do anything to have a great "Moo," but Cathy the Cow won't hear of it. So the turkey turns to others, begging for an "Oink," a "Neigh," a "Quack," a "Caa-aaw," and so on. The story is told with a light singsong, snappy rhythm that will keep children on their toes: Toodles "asked the duck for his Quack,/the goose for his Clack." The animals' expressions of disbelief are hilarious. Of course, there is wise advice from the owl, but it isn't until Toodles must employ all of her assets, including her "gobble-gobble," to rescue some young chicks that her strengths become self-evident. Lots of white space surrounds the mixed-media, cartoon-style drawings. This is a lighthearted take on a worthy subject, and a smart read-aloud.—Teresa Pfeifer, Alfred Zanetti Montessori Magnet School, Springfield, MACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.