Kirsten Larsen

After reading other fairy books, this one is a delight. There is such originality in the way these Disney fairy books are written. Sure, you still have some typical characters like other fairy books, but many of the characters in these aren't so typical. They have more depth. Like the "mean" fairy Vidia, who really isn't that mean all the time. And Disney fairies aren't that clumsy. They do get into trouble, but that is the fun of these books. For example, in this one Lily, a garden fairy, show more finds a seed that she does not recognize. The plant grows to look ugly, smell ugly, and everything about it seems bad. But Lily still cares for the plant and knows that it is happy. This story is an example of how you can find true beauty in everything. show less

In "It's Sharing Day", Dora the Explorer must make her way to her Abuela's house "for a very special lunch". Dora explains that everyone who is invited is to bring a dish. Dora is to bring rice and milk to make arroz con leche. So with the help of her friends, Dora must get milk from a farm and rice from the rice fields, all while avoiding Swiper the Fox!

"It's Sharing Day" is a sweet adaptation of the Dora the Explorer series. The round and colorful designs of the characters will appeal to show more children and adults alike. I love that the Spanish words are infused with English. I also loved that Abuela invited all of Dora’s friends and that they congregated like a family.

For a class activity, I would organize a "Share Day". Each student would sign up to bring different dishes and we would congregate the way Dora and her friends did in the book.
As another assignment, I would ask each student to bring a special item for a class wide show and tell. I would ask each student to share the history and the importance of the item with the class. show less

I remember writing a review for this book on Amazon almost four years ago, and it is surprisingly adequate:
This book is a novelization of two episodes of Lizzie McGuire. The first one is called "Bad Girl McGuire". In that part of the story, Lizzie gets detention and starts hanging out with a girl named Angel and suddenly goes "bad". Of course, since this is a children's show (and book), she doesn't do anything drastic, but her friends still want the old Lizzie back. In the second part of the show more book is the episode "Come Fly With Me", where Gordo is into 60's(not hippie, but "Rat Pack")stuff. Lizzie and Miranda accidentally make it a trend, but then Gordo gets mad and stops liking it(or at least pretends to.) The title of this book is sort of fitting for the first story, but not the second. This is an exact copy of the show, but to make it seem more like a real book, the writer adds a lot of details, like Lizzie writing a note to her math teacher, but then getting rid of it. I recommend this book only to people who either are collectors or have very young children. The whole story is completely G rated and can be a bit boring. Just buy the videos, it's more fun that way. show less

Summary:
This is a book about a fairy that loves to garden. One day she found an unknown seed in the woods and she went back to her garden to plant it to see it grow and figure out what it is. The seed caused a lot of bad feelings between her and the other fairies in her village and they wanted her to cut it down. Being a plant lover she could not cut it down and it turns out in the end everyone ended up loving the suprise plant and what came out of it.

Personal Reaction:
This is a perfect show more fantasy book. There are friendships built and maintained. There are suprises. And what little girl doesn't love fairies. I have always loved TinkerBell growing up and these books are an extension of her life and her fellow fairies. It is a great read for little girls.

Classroom Extension:
1. I would use this book to help little girls get interested in reading.
2. I would use this book to help teach my students about the importance of friendships, growing and keeping them. show less