Caroline Binch

Molly is beginning to take dance classes, and more than anything she wants a pair of silver dance shoes. Although being bi-racial is not mentioned throughout the book, the illustrations depict Molly as a beautiful African American girl and her grandmother as Caucasian. Overall, this is a cute picture book, one many younger children, especially girls, will enjoy.

This story presents a young boy who will be staying with his grandparents and cousin on an island for four weeks. The grandparents home does not have all the things young boy is used to such as, electricity, hamburgers, or games. At first, the young boy does not like the humid tropic weather, food, his cousin, or anything about this new place. All he wants to do is watch TV and play video games, however, his grand parents home has neither. Soon his family and him bond, and he learns to enjoy show more the simple life without all of the modern technologies and simply being a kid.

This story allows the young boy to be more open and excepting of another culture, unlike his own, which is an important concept to teach to young children. The boy's emotions discussed in the story would probably be similar to other young children and will allow them to connect with the main character.

This story offers beautiful watercolor illustrations that allow the pictures to appear to be life-like. The bonding of the cousin and the young boy is a great story of two different cultures coming together. I love the culture discussed in the book. This would be great for exploring social studies topics. show less

Summary: This book is about a young boy named Gregory who goes to visit his grandparents and cousin in Tabogo for four weeks. It tells how Gregory tries to adjust to a new way of life as all the things he is accustomed.to are not offered in the place his grandparents and counsin live. He must learn to have fun in other yet simple ways.

My reaction:
I thought this would be a good book to read to read to a new class or class with a new student. It was a great story to help kids learn about show more adjustment and especially in today's world, enjoying the simple life. It also can be used as a multicultural read to help younger children see how other children have fun in different countries.

Classroom Extension ideas:
1. Each student could pick a different country and make a collage of all the different things they can do for fun in that country.
2. We could research Tabago and write a story of what we would do if we got to visit there. show less

Children could relate to this story because it is based on a boy who goes to visit his grandparents on an island that doesn't have TV, electricity, or even hamburgers. But, he learned to love it and their simple island living.