STARTED & FINISHED:

Kuskin, Karla. (1982). The Philharmonic gets dressed. New York: HarperCollins.

[Picked this one out because I'm becoming a BIG fan of Marc Simont's illustrations. Probably best known for doing the drawings in the Nate the Great books - well, at least the initial ones. The book itself is a great one, about - well, the title says it all, now doesn't it? Lots of great illustrations of the various Philharmonic members getting ready for a symphony performance.]




Howe, James. (1996). Pinky and Rex and the bully. New York: Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.

[I'm drawn to books that feature kids displaying behavior contrary to gender stereotypes - for reasons obvious to those who know me. Actually, I've always taken an interest in literature and films that focus on underdogs - I'm incredibly sympathetic to underdogs. This one is one in a series of "Pinky and Rex" beginning readers, and until now I had no idea that they were about the friendship between a boy and a girl. Here, Pinky (the boy) gets ridiculed for his love of all things pink (hence, the nickname...). How great to see a book for new readers that has, as a main character, a boy who likes to wear pink shoes, and whose stuffed animal collection features toys that all have pink on them somewhere! Reminds me of someone...]

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