Snow Pony and the Seven Miniature Ponies

Title: Snow Pony and the Seven Miniature Ponies
Author: Christian Trimmer
Illustrator: Jessie Sima
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: August 21st, 2018   
Genre/Format: Fiction/Fairy Tales/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: From Christian Trimmer and bestselling illustrator Jessie Sima comes an adorable and imaginative twist on the tale of Snow White…with lots more ponies!

Sweet Snow Pony is loved by all for her beautiful coat as white as snow and her mane as black as ebony. Children come to her farm from all over just to have her braid their hair and teach them line dancing.

But not everyone loves Snow Pony. Jealous Queenie hatches an evil plan to make Snow Pony run away from the stable by planting a trail of apples into the woods and before long Snow Pony is lost! Full of delicious apples but all alone in the woods, Snow Pony stumbles upon the home of seven miniature ponies. The mini-ponies couldn’t be cuter, especially with Snow Pony’s braids, but they don’t have quite the same moves as the kids back on the farm.

Will her new friends help her find her way home? Or will the evil Queenie get her way?
What I Think: To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of horses BUT this story and the illustrations are really sweet. I like how this is a twist on a fairy tale but also a blend of different fairy tales. At first, I thought it would mimic Snow White and the Seven Dwarves but there's a little Goldilocks and the Three Bears thrown in. 
     As a mentor text, I like looking at different versions of fairy tales and seeing how authors switch things up. I particularly like how Jessie switched the characters and made the people characters into animals and vice versa. Student writers could think about this in their own stories if they wanted to. They could write a twist on a fairy tale or even fan fiction with a similar character swap. 
     I've been working on my next young adult novel and I've spent a lot of time working on character development. I've always paid attention to my characters and who they are but this time around, I've really done a lot of character exercises and it's been fun to get to know my characters more before I start writing. Students would play with character options and think through which choice in characters they'd like to try and write. Below you'll find the first paragraph from the book that can be used as a mentor text as writers think about their own version of the story. What if the main character was a tiger or a penguin or a puffer fish? 
     In thinking about the snatch of text, I also really love how it starts with a description and then the author announces, "Her name was Snow Pony." I like how starting with a description and then naming who the character is gives the information a bit of punch. Something else to try!

Snatch of Text:
"Once upon a time there was a pony who had a coat as white as snow and a mane as black as ebony. (As you can see, the combination was quite spectacular.) Her name was Snow Pony."

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

for sending me a copy of this book to review.

Because Amelia Smiled

Title: Because Amelia Smiled 
Author: David Ezra Stein  
Illustrator: David Ezra Stein 
Publisher: Candlewick Press 
Publication Date: September, 2012 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary:  Just try not to smile! A positively inspiring picture book from the creator of the Caldecott Honor–winning Interrupting Chicken.
Because Amelia smiles as she skips down the street, her neighbor Mrs. Higgins smiles too, and decides to send a care package of cookies to her grandson Lionel in Mexico. The cookies give Lionel an idea, and his idea inspires a student, who in turn inspires a ballet troupe in England! And so the good feelings that started with Amelia’s smile make their way around the world, from a goodwill recital in Israel, to an impromptu rumba concert in Paris, to a long-awaited marriage proposal in Italy, to a knitted scarf for a beloved niece back in New York. Putting a unique spin on "what goes around comes around," David Ezra Stein’s charmingly illustrated story reminds us that adding even a small dose of kindness into the world is sure to spur more and more kindness, which could eventually make its way back to you!

 

What I Think: Having the Because Amelia Smiled suitcase come visit was a blast! My kids enjoyed opening the package and finding out-of-the ordinary contents. They thought the lips were very fun and were passing them back and forth and wanting me to take their pictures. As we sat down to read the book, they enjoyed hearing about all the different people in different places doing all sorts of unique things. I think we especially loved the idea of baking cookies to give to someone. We recently celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week so Peanut participated in his school's plan to honor teachers. He wrote his teacher a nice card and took a flower to school for her. It was very sweet. We also celebrated school lunch ladies and Peanut drew a very nice picture of himself and his school lunch lady. Both of my kids enjoy being helpers and are always proud to know that they can make someone else day.
     I would recommend Because Amelia Smiled to 2nd or 3rd grade readers because I think they will be more able to understand the idea that Amelia's sweet smile made an impact that went around the world. I can see how older students would have fun finding all the places on the map and seeing exactly how Amelia's joy spread. It would be really neat to ask students to pick a character from the book and write a story for that character in his or her context based on what the story tells us. Each of the characters in this book seem to be larger than life and I can only imagine what stories students would come up with for each of the characters.
     I also see how this book would match so well with Each Kindness and Wonder and the Choose Kind initiative. While this book is very light-hearted and simple, it does also capture the importance of sharing positive experiences with each other as much as we can.
Read Together: Grades 1 - 4 
Read Alone: Grades 2 - 4 
Read With: Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, Wonder by RJ Palacio 
Snatch of Text:   

"In the apartment next door, Betty Marlinspike, glamorous rumba queen, got a great night's sleep."

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Personal Narrative, Narrative, Seed Ideas, Fan Fiction  
Writing Prompts: Write about at time in your life when someone shared a smile with you and it made a difference in your day.  
Topics Covered: Happiness, Feelings, Emotions, Family, Friendship, Love, Sharing, Joy

I *heart* It: 

A giant thank you to Candlewick for including my family in the suitcase tour for Because Amelia Smiled! We also received a copy of Because Amelia Smiled to give away! If you would like a chance to win your own copy of Because Amelia Smiled, tell us how you have shared a smile with someone in the past week. Have you taken part in a random act of kindness or inspire someone else to do something good for themselves or others? Leave your name, e-mail address and your response in the comment section to be entered in the contest. One name will be randomly selected. Contest will close at 10:00 p.m. CST on Sunday, May 19th, 2013. Only one entry per person.