Archive for Rhyming

Sherlock Bones and the Missing Cheese

Written by Susan Stevens Crummel

Ilustrated by Dorothy Donohue

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A smelly, scrumptious cheese is missing!  This is no ordinary cheese.  It is made from the milk of a cantankerous cow, a Cowabunga.  It is delicious, delectable, but really smelly.  So when it disappears from its rock, Sherlock Bones is called to find that missing cheese.  He uses all five senses to gather clues.  Some witnesses saw strange things, others heard strange things.  He notes them all which lead him to the beanstalk.  He concludes that they have a giant problem.  Sure enough, a giant got hungry for pizza and thought the smelly cheese would be perfect for his concoction.  When Sherlock demands that the giant return the cheese, he puts all the cheese in his mouth.  Poor giant.  Now he has a giant stomach ache.  When he grabs Sherlock, they both fall out of beanstalk land.   The people of the dell are now able to trade the giant’s services for the cure to the Cowabunga Cheese Disease.

For all those amateur detectives out there, Sherlock’s clues are shown in detail and can be adapted into a literacy activity.  Sherlock’s problem solving method is a good model for young readers.  There is also the music for “The Farmer in the Dell” which the author claims was the inspiration for this story.  It is a very loose connection, but the song could be part of the story time that uses this book as a read aloud.  The intricate cut-paper illustrations are unique, giving a sense of depth as well as adding a humorous element of their own.  The illustrator shows her method on her website: (http://dorothydonohue.com/).

  • Sherlock BonesTITLE: Sherlock Bones and the Missing Cheese
  • AUTHOR: Susan Stevens Crummel
  • ILLUSTRATOR: Dorothy Donohue
  • PUBLISHER: Amazon Children’s Publishing
  • REVIEWER: Risa Brown
  • EDITION: Hardcover, 32 p.
  • ISBN: 978-0-7614-6186-9
  • GENRE: Rhyming stories, Picture books

Lazy Daisy, Cranky Frankie

Written by Mary Ellen Jordan and Andrew Weldon

Illustrated by  Andrew Weldon and Bruno Herfst

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Funny farm animals and silly antics is what you will find in the book Lazy Daisy, Cranky Frankie.  Imagine a farm full of animals doing nothing that animals should do.  Cows eating jelly, rather than grass.  Pigs pruning in a mirror, rather than rolling in the mud, and a dog, watching TV with attitude.   Young children will find the story comical and reading out loud will be fun because of the rhyming nature of the book as well.

Children will begin to expand their understanding of rhyming words and with some encouragement could explore other words that rhyme along with the story.  The illustrations will also be enjoyed by children, as well as being quite comical and funny to younger kids.  Looking at the pictures, children could come up with their own rhymes or create new and funny twists to the story.  Short and easy to read this is a good book for children with early reading skills or it could be used for slightly older children as a spring board to creating a new story or expanding on what is already written.  Then what fun it would be to have children read aloud and share their new creation.

  • Lazy DaisyTitle: Lazy Daisy, Cranky Frankie
  • Author: Mary Ellen Jordan and Andrew Weldon
  • Illustration:  Andrew Weldon and Bruno Herfst
  • Publisher: Albert Whitman and Company
  • Reviewer: Cheri Liddy
  • ISBN: 978-0-8075-4400-6
  • Genre:  fiction, stories in rhyme