That's all he has, though, until his classmates' questions-'Did it feel squishy?' 'Did your mom let you keep it?' 'Did you name it?'-open the floodgates for a rousing yarn featuring an interloping toddler, a broad comic turn and a dramatic rescue. One day, lying under the desk in despair, he remembers finding an inchworm in the park. With a little help from his audience, a young storyteller gets over a solid case of writer's block in this engaging debut.ĭespite the (sometimes creatively spelled) examples produced by all his classmates and the teacher's assertion that 'Stories are everywhere!' Ralph can't get past putting his name at the top of his paper. A splendid debut.–Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY Kirkus Reviews Pair this book with Tad Hills’s Rocket Writes a Story (Random, 2012) for an excellent introduction to writing. Ralph’s tips and numerous book titles, found at the end of this story, are an inspiration. The watercolor and colored-pencil pictures are engaging, varied, and beautifully suited to the text. What happens next restores his self-confidence and introduces him to his own abundance of adventures. He drags himself to the front of the rug. “Then Grandma gave me a cup of coffee and said, ‘Don’t tell your mother.’” “After that, I decided to hide my Halloween candy in my bed.” Ralph’s struggle comes to a climax when he’s asked to tell the whole class his story.

These are everyday occurrences, told and received enthusiastically. Enticing bits of the other children’s stories appear in speech bubbles around the room, while pieces of paper display their invented spelling. Great storytelling examples surround him.

His fellow students have no trouble finding them, telling them, and writing them down. K-Gr 3–Ralph’s teacher says that stories are everywhere. 'It's a promising debut by Abby Hanlon, a former first-grade teacher who does delightful childlike drawings.'

Abby hanlon