One of my favorite things to do in the evening is to sit down with my girls and read to them. With my oldest now seven and a reader herself, we have a lot of fun picking out books together. When I received Julianne Moore’s newest book, Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully, I asked Leah if she wanted to read it. Her answer was a big YES and so we snuggled on the couch and read the story of Freckleface Strawberry.
Freckleface is scared of dodgeball (and to be quite honest, who ever came up with the idea for this game anyway- I mean, did any of us really like dodgeball?). She also fears the school bully Windy Pants Patrick. Freckleface, who attends the early bird program at her elementary school, now has a really big problem. It’s raining outside and that means one thing – heading into the gym to play dodgeball. And of course Windy Pants Patrick has the ball. Freckleface now has to figure out how to face both of her fears. Summoning the courage to stand up to the dodgeball bully, Freckleface Strawberry realizes that maybe the things she’s most afraid of aren’t all that scary after all.
First, I have to say that the illustrations, drawn by LeUyen Pham, are super cute, colorful and quirky. Freckleface Strawberry is a sweet, spunky character who has a vivid imagination (one of her favorite games is playing imaginary monster who rules the solar system). Even so, as with children of all ages, Freckleface has big worries (for this character her fears are directed towards dodgeball and school bully). The story itself encourages kids to face their fears and not be frightened of new experiences, which I think is a really nice message.
While at Book Expo America I was lucky enough to meet Julianne Moore. She was very nice (we quick chatted about how both our two children are the exact same ages apart) and she signed a copy of this book for my girls. I like this video, in which Julianne explains why she enjoys writing for children.
Would you like to see what other bloggers have said about Freckleface Strawberry? For tour information and the complete schedule, visit the tour home page.
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