Sally Noll

I liked this book for two reasons. First, the illustrations enhance the story. When the characters walk up to pet two horses, they say, “’She’s beautiful,’ said Nora. ‘And so is her colt!’ said Grandaddy.” When looking at the illustrations, there are two beautifully drawn horses. The character, Nora, has a giant grin on her face. This helps the reader see exactly what the characters see and how it makes them feel. Also, I did not know that the word “colt” means a young show more horse, and the illustrations helped me figure out this definition. The illustrations helped me because I could see that Nora was referring to the big horse when she made her comment because she is drawn hugging that horse. The only other horse on the page was drawn much smaller, so when Grandaddy called it “her colt”, I was able to figure out that “colt” means young horse. Second, the story was written in third person. This makes the story more enjoyable because I was able to hear about both character’s perspectives. Nora and Grandaddy were both making comments about the same things, so I was able to get a sense of their character. The big idea of this story is that anything is possible. Just because some things seem impossible, there is always a chance they can happen. Sometimes, all someone needs is a sign of luck. show less

This book is very straight-forward and organized well for young children. Each page has three action words that rhyme. The first page says, "Walk Rock Drop". The second page says, "Push Pull Flop". Each page rhymes with the one before it. I also like the illustrations in the book because they show a visual of the action words. Above the word "push" is a bunny pushing an elephant. Above the word "pull" is a tiger pulling the elephant's trunk. This book helps students read rhyming action words show more and see visuals to help define each word. show less

I think that this book is in the right place, but I believe it is a little dated. It really only shows you how to count to ten and by the time you are learning to read you should already know how to count to ten. I do think the book did a good job at giving a visual representation of every number leading up to ten, but not enough to make me actually recommend this to anyone.

I liked this book for two reasons. The first reason was the plot of the story. Nora visits her grandparents on a ranch, and her grandaddy takes her out on one of his fishing trips. Throughout the story, Nora asks repeatedly if she will get to see all types of real wild animals. Her grandaddy responds with "there's a chance." When Nora finds a very lucky four leaf clover, her luck changes and she sees all the animals that she imagined. I think that the plot is easy for young children to show more understand and is relatable to them as well. Grandparents are a large part of many children's lives. The second thing I liked about the book is the language. I would definitely read the book in my own classroom if we were learning about animals because of the patterns. "There's a chance" and "can you see what i see?" were two lines throughout the story that would be fun and engaging for students. Overall the big idea of the story is the importance of having a relationship and spending time with your grandparents. show less