Ruby the Copycat

A distinctive story about individuality, from award-winning author and illustrator Peggy Rathmann.

It's the first day of school, and Ruby is new. When her classmate Angela wears a red bow in her hair, Ruby comes back from lunch wearing a red bow, too. When Angel teacher knows a better way to help Ruby fit in, by showing how much fun it is to be herself.

Kindergarten-Grade 2-- A book with a strong story and complementary illustrations that addresses the philosophical question of individuality vs. conformity. Ruby, the new girl at school, is immediately taken with Angela's bright red bow. At lunchtime she hops home and returns with a similar bow in her hair. Throughout the week she copies not only what Angela wears but also what she says and does. By Friday Angela is fed up. Their teacher tells Ruby, ``You can be anything you want to be, but be Ruby first.'' On Monday Ruby has moved on to copying her. Prodded by Miss Hart, she admits to having simply spent her weekend hopping, at which point she starts a hopping jamboree and now she is the one who is copied. Watch out-- young readers will immediately begin doing the ``Ruby Hop.'' The artwork is reminiscent of both Amy Schwartz and Kevin Henkes; it's fun, expressive, character oriented, and done in colorful pencil-and-ink drawings. A small gem. --Martha Topol, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.