Peter Spit a Seed at Sue
PreSchool-Grade 3—Four bored children visit a man selling watermelon slices from his truck, dig into them, and soon begin slurping and spitting, leading the way for the rest of the town to follow suit. When the mayor appears and it seems the game is off, she surprises everyone and ups the ante—by throwing pies! The rhyming verse is easy to read aloud, and Manders's cartoon depictions of the townspeople provide just the right sense of fun. Though this silly story depends a little too heavily on one repetitive action to move the plot along, it can be used to supplement summer-story collections. Pair it with Kathi Appelt'sWatermelon Day(Holt, 1996) and Lisa Moser'sWatermelon Wishes(Clarion, 2006) for a juicy hot-weather treat.—Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NCCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.