A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen and Mike Lowery

A little boy watches his sister read and write and then imitates her by making squiggles and doodles. She gently encourages him to turn these into a story - an I begins it, then a circle becomes a soccer ball, dots become sand on the beach, and v's are the waves. The story continues until he gets stuck and takes it to school, where he lots of ideas for continuing his story!

This was shortlisted for the CLEL awards and it absolutely drips with early literacy ideas! I loved the emphasis on early writing skills, how the little boy wasn't pushed to do "real letters" but gently encouraged to use his imagination with his (developmentally appropriate!) current skills. In fact, if you wanted a manual for including the writing aspect of early literacy in storytimes and art programs, this is it! Lowery's cheerful images show a biracial family and a supportive, diverse classroom as well as supporting the text that brings the little boy's doodles to life.

Verdict: A great choice to support writing and imagination in preschool storytimes and in classrooms. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781771380164 ; Published 2016 by Kids Can Press; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library