George and Martha One Fine Day

Rating:
Summary: FANTASTIC
Review: I loved this sweet book. It reminded me of myself and my own family. It made me and my children laugh out loud! Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A sly and touching book about friendship
Review: This book, subtitled, "Five Stories About Two Best Friends," follows George and Martha, two hippopotami, through stories called "The Tightrope," "The Diary," "The Icky Story," "The Big Scare," and "The Amusement Park." The stories follow a day in the life of George and Martha and remind us how powerful friendship is and that being a good friend takes effort. Specifically, George and Martha learn the importance of unconditional support, respect for privacy, and consideration of others' feelings and also discover that practical jokes have consequences. While each story can be read separately, the final stories blend together with a surprise ending. Each story is told in five pages or less and the text is very easy for beginning readers, with common words, short sentences, fewer than ten lines per page, and large serif type. More advanced readers will continue to remain challenged by some longer words. Although the stories are brief and the language simple, Marshall uses the rhythm and phrasing of the text to create a strong emotional response and sophisticated humor. With understated narration punctuated by short (often terse) snippets of dialog, the stories are meant to be read slowly and savored, with pauses for giggles and snickering. The overall effect is dramatic, with suspenseful moments at the end of most pages. Each page of text is accompanied by an illustration and each story, as well as the book as a whole, is introduced by an illustrated, hand-lettered title page. The illustrations are cartoonish black-line drawings filled in with pink, yellow, green, and orange, with George and Martha in appropriately weighty masses of gray. The texture of the brush strokes and pencil lines is visible, emphasizing the hand-craftedness of the drawings. Both children and adults will enjoy the sly tone and touching themes of the stories.