Grandpa Spanielson's Chicken Pox Stories: Story #1: The Octopus (I Can Read Book 2) - Softcover

Cazet, Denys

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060510927 ISBN 13: 9780060510923

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2006

Synopsis

Grandpa knows how to cure Barney's chicken pox -- with his famous anti-itch tales, including the one about the time Grandpa battled a fierce octopus on a dark and stormy night!

About this title

About the Author

Denys Cazet is the author and illustrator of more than 25 picture books for children, including Never Spit On Your Shoes, winner of the California Young Readers Medal.

The books about Minnie and Moo are his first for beginning readers. He was inspired to tell stories about the silly cow best-friends when he passed a herd of cows in which all but two were facing the same way. The other two stood next to each other, facing in the opposite direction from the rest of the cows. He immediately dubbed the two nonconformists Minnie and Moo and imagined the adventures two cows who were loyal friends rather than followers of the herd. Mr. Cazet is currently writing I Can Read Books featuring Elvis the Rooster from the farm on which Minnie and Moo live.

Mr. Cazet was an elementary school teacher for 25 years, and has also been a school librarian and elementary school media specialist. He remains active in his local elementary school parent and advisory committees. A California native, Mr. Cazet lives with his family in the foothills of the Napa Valley.

Denys Cazet is the author and illustrator of more than 25 picture books for children, including Never Spit On Your Shoes, winner of the California Young Readers Medal.

The books about Minnie and Moo are his first for beginning readers. He was inspired to tell stories about the silly cow best-friends when he passed a herd of cows in which all but two were facing the same way. The other two stood next to each other, facing in the opposite direction from the rest of the cows. He immediately dubbed the two nonconformists Minnie and Moo and imagined the adventures two cows who were loyal friends rather than followers of the herd. Mr. Cazet is currently writing I Can Read Books featuring Elvis the Rooster from the farm on which Minnie and Moo live.

Mr. Cazet was an elementary school teacher for 25 years, and has also been a school librarian and elementary school media specialist. He remains active in his local elementary school parent and advisory committees. A California native, Mr. Cazet lives with his family in the foothills of the Napa Valley.

From Booklist

Gr. 1-3. This tale-within-a-tale is the first of Grandpa Spanielson's Chicken Pox Stories, a new series of An I Can Read Books from the creator of the popular Minnie and Moo characters. Barney, a puppy, has succumbed to chicken pox. The doctor's prescription is a soothing bath, but Grandpa claims stories have "anti-itch" properties, too. The ensuing tall tale about his long-ago battle with a furious octopus is certainly wild enough to distract even the poxiest pup. Cazet includes some wordplay that may confuse new readers, as when Barney mispronounces his affliction as "chicken pops," but the expressive line-and-watercolor artwork has the timeless feel of Arnold Lobel and Else Minarik's early forays into the genre, and the silliness is--what else?--contagious. The premise of an outrageous story within the more commonplace framework of Barney's illness will be repeated in future installments, although this tender intergenerational relationship seems poised for spin-offs even after the pox has disappeared. Jennifer Mattson
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About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0060510927
• ISBN 13: 9780060510923
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Cazet Denys