Toni Hormann (1930–2003)

"What To Do? What To Do?" by Toni Teevin features Old Sophie who lives alone in her hometown. We wished for some company and passed her time by talking to her animals and even to the vegetables in her garden. One day, she notices a flock of birds, which seem to call back to her when she spoke to them. Excited, she decides to feed them. However, the birds return in bigger groups to her everyday and ask for bread at every hour. Old Sophie is overworked into baking bread for them, while the show more birds do not even appreciate her. She decides to go see an advisor to help her with her problem. But the advisor is jusr as greedy as the birds and tries to steal her belongings. In the end, she realizes in order to solve her problem she must set bounderies. The main theme of this story is to be cautious around those who are selfish and are only there for their own benefit. This story is a great way for kids to choose carefully who they decide to be around and help. The illustrations throughout the book are very colorful and engaging and really show emotion. You can see the stress Old Sophie is going through, and the greed of those around her. Sophie goes from being burnt out, and seeing no way out to finding her happiness again after setting limited boundaries while doing what she loves(baking). I really like how Old Sophie let the people around her who were using her go, despite them being her only company because she realized they did not appreciate her. show less