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Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher Publisher: Schwartz & Wade ( Date: July 24, 2012 This one would also make a good gift for any writer seeking inspiration. The two Rocket books together would make the perfect gift for any just-learning-to-read four to six year old. In short, Rocket Writes a Story is going on our keep shelf, and is a must-purchase for libraries (especially school libraries). The illustrations featuing Rocket's words (each shown on a separate piece of paper, with a little black and white drawing) are likely to inspire kids to create their own special flashcards. He uses a blue/green/yellow palette that will be familiar to fans of the first book (and the app), a palette that, while celebrating reading, also celebrates the outdoors. Hills' illustrations are kid-friendly and engaging. New character Owl is delightfully uncertain and easy for kids to relate to. The enthusiastic Rocket and his patient teacher are solid characters, their personalities revealed through their expressions and postures. I love the idea that a new word can be a present. There's also a bit where Rocket is trying to figure out who lives in a nest in a big pine tree, and he receives the word 'OWL' as a present. When he opened a new book, it smelled like a place he'd never been to, like a friend he'd never met.' 'Rocket even liked the way books smelled. And through his story, he even makes a new friend. Coming up with material for a story turns out to be more difficult than he had expected. He decides that he would like to do something with all of those great words. He has a host of little pieces of paper with words on them. Rocket, having learned to read in the first book, is still adding words to his collection. A simple story, sure, but a satisfying one, too. Although an ode to words and stories (reading them and writing them), it never strays from being first of all a story. Like the first book (which I somehow never reviewed), it is adorable. Rocket Writes a Story, by Tad Hills, is the sequel to How Rocket Learned to Read.

Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills