[LM_NET] ELEM: BOOK REVIEW: Bella & Bean by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

[Toni Buzzeo <tonibuzzeo@TONIBUZZEO.COM>]

Bella & Bean by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, illustrated by Aileen Leijten. 
Atheneum, 2009. 978-0-689-85616-7

Bella is a poet.  She spends her days in a tiny brick house up the 
hill from Spoon Pond dreaming up delicious words and fashioning poems 
at her tiny desk near a window with a view.  Bella is also a mouse, 
as is her best friend Bean.  Unlike Bella, however, Bean is a mouse 
actively alive in the wide world, a wearer of jingly hats, a wiggler 
of cute little toes, a planter of flowing snow bushes.  Bean tries to 
wrangle Bella's attention away from the words floating through her 
mind and onto paper to no avail. Nevertheless, Bean's interruptions 
drift their way into Bella's consciousness and onto the page.  The 
two friends end their day honoring Bean's love of nature and Bella's 
love of words by composing a joint poem at the side of the pond, 
beneath the stars.  This charming picture book, illustrated in 
graphite pencil drawings painted in Photoshop, is a testimony to the 
strength of friendship between two souls whose response to the world 
is completely different, but whose love and respect for each other is 
not diminished by those differences.  Read this in conjunction with a 
friendship unit in schools or to launch poetry-writing activities in 
the classroom or library. Suggested Grades: PreK-Second ~ Toni Buzzeo, MA, MLIS


Toni Buzzeo, MA, MLIS <mailto:tonibuzzeo@tonibuzzeo.com>
Maine Library Media Specialist of the Year Emerita
Buxton, ME 04093
http://www.tonibuzzeo.com
Adventure Annie Goes to Work , illustrated by Amy Wummer (Dial 2009) BRAND NEW! 

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