Miss Brooks Loves Books (And I Don't)
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Text copyright © 2010 by Barbara Bottner
Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Bird Productions, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bottner, Barbara.
Miss Brooks loves books! (and I don’t) / by Barbara Bottner ; illustrations by Michael Emberley. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: A first-grade girl who does not like to read stubbornly resists her school librarian’s efforts to convince her to love books until she finds one that might change her mind.
eISBN: 978-0-307-75945-0
[1. Books and reading—Fiction. 2. Librarians—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. Steig, William, 1907–2003.
Shrek!] I. Emberley, Michael, ill. II. Title. III. Title: Miss Brooks loves books! (and I do not).
PZ7.B6586Mi 2010
[E]—dc22
2009002305
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.0
For William Steig, who started it all.
—B.B.
For super teacher Deb Marciano,
#1 fan of books, kids, and authors,
and mentor for the next generation of super teachers.
—M.E.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don’t)
Miss Brooks is our librarian. She loves books. A lot.
She loves The Runaway Bunny.
And Babar.
And Where the Wild Things Are.
And The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
I ask Miss Brooks why she dresses up for reading circle.
“I want you to get as excited about books as I am,” she says.
I think Miss Brooks gets a little too excited. And I bet her costumes itch.
Halloween means we each have to find a poem to share. But all the books with witches, ghosts, and goblins are checked out. And I hate pumpkins.
So I make up a Halloween poem of my own.
The class looks at me funny. Miss Brooks says, “Well, it’s a start.”
All year long, Miss Brooks reads us books. Books about dragons and Pilgrims and presidents.
Books about love and leprechauns. Groundhogs, even!
It’s vexing.
Then, in May, Miss Brooks tells us about something truly terrifying: Book Week!
“You each need to pick a favorite story to share with the class. I want you to wear a costume and tell us all about it. Really show us why you love it!” she says.
“I’ll never love a book the way you do,” I tell Miss Brooks.
“Don’t be so sure,” she says.
When I get home, I ask my mother if we can move to a new town. My mother says there’s a librarian in every town.
I ask if she wants to do my assignment for me.
“I’ve already been in the first grade,” says my mother.
Every single day of Book Week, kids share stories about trains …
… and fairies …
… and cowboys …
… and dogs.
When Miss Brooks asks what I think, I say,
“Too flowery.”
“Too furry.”
“Too clickety.”
“Too yippity.”
So Miss Brooks fills my bag with more books for me to read with my mom.
But I don’t like any of them. “They’re too kissy. Too pink. And too silly,” I tell my mother.
“You’re as stubborn as a wart,” she says.
Warts?
“I want to read a story with warts!” I shout.
My mother finds a book called Shrek! Shrek has hairs on his nose. And he snorts. I love that!
“Can you read it again?” I ask.
I love this book!
I have to practice the words over and over, but my mother helps. Then we make an ogre costume. I make stick-on warts for the whole class.
When I get to school the next day, I ask Miss Brooks to lend me a hand.
When I say the word “snort,” the whole class snorts. I explain why a stubborn, smelly, snorty ogre, searching for a revolting bride, makes me laugh.
Miss Brooks says she’s glad I found a book to love.
She says that even ogres (like me) can find something funny and fantastic and appalling in the library.
And that is the slimy truth.
Barbara Bottner produced, wrote, and designed award-winning animated shorts for Sesame Street. She’s been a journalist,humorist, and writer for television and movies, but her abiding love is children’s fiction. She has written and/or illustrated more than thirty-five books, including the classic Bootsie Barker Bites, illustrated by Peggy Rathmann, and Wallace’s Lists, written with her husband, Gerald Kruglik, and illustrated by Olof Landström. Barbara Bottner lives in Los Angeles.
You can learn more about her work at www.barbarabottnerbooks.com.
Michael Emberley has been writing and illustrating children’s books since 1979 and has more than twenty books to his credit, including the ALA Notable Book Maybe a Bear Ate It! by Robie H. Harris and the You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You series by Mary Ann Hoberman. Books have always been a big part of Michael’s life—both his sister and his father (Rebecca and Ed) also make children’s books. Michael Emberley lives in Ireland.
You can learn more about his work at www.michaelemberley.com.
Barbara Bottner, Miss Brooks Loves Books (And I Don't)
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