In the midst of reading the 25 leadership books recommended by Veterinary Economics, I snuck in this super awesome book that I HAVE to tell you about because I LOVE it.
Houdini Was…
Written and illustrated
by
the Second Grade Students of White Bluffs Elementary in Richland, Washington
I bought the book because of the very cute hamster on the cover. (I judge books by their cover, which you should not do, and though I can usually tell at first glance whether I will like a book or not, my reasoning is not always quite…linear.)
This book covers in impressive depth the human-animal bond, pet loss, processing grief, the value of pets, lessons to be learned from our relationships with our pets and even the value a classroom pet adds to the educational experience*. What impresses me is that all of this is done so poinently and concisely…by second graders…mostly by crayon. I love the pictures. I love the humor. I love seeing Houdini hamster through the eyes of those who knew and loved her. It almost makes me want to treat my Fuzzy-loss with a hamster…
…but I won’t.
Houdini Was…
Five Stars!
✩✩✩✩✩
This book won the 2010 Scholastic “Kids Are Authors” contest and is available at all the Scholastic Book Fairs going on now! I got it tonight during Parent-Teacher conferences :)
*Click here for information on “Pets in the Classroom”, a very fun CareFRESH grant program that assists with the adoption and care of small pets in the classroom.