18 August 2010 HOW ROCKET LEARNED TO READ by Tad Hills, Schwartz & Wade Books, July 2010, 40p., ISBN: 978-0-375-85899-4

"'Ah, the wondrous, mighty, gorgeous alphabet,' she marveled.  'Where it all begins.'"

Today's headline: Richie Succumbs to Cute Animal Story!...details to follow.

"Every fall morning, after chasing leaves, Rocket would lie down in his favorite spot under his favorite tree.  There he'd sniff the neighborhood smells and settle in for a good nap. 

"But one day...a little yellow bird startled Rocket.  'Aha!  My first student!  Wonderful!' she sang.

"Rocket was confused.  'Student?  I'm not a--'

"'But if I am your teacher, the bird interrupted, 'then you must be my student.'

"Rocket found it hard to argue with this bird."

Sure, Rocket the mop-haired dog and the little yellow bird (who sets up class under Rocket's favorite tree in the meadow) are both way cute.  But this picturebook tale about a resistant student learning to read is also far too cool to ignore. 

"'I am so glad you saw my sign!' the bird chirped.

"'Oh, yes, I can see it,' Rocket said.  'But I don't know how to read.'

"'Can't read?  Fantastic!'  She waved a wing.  Welcome to my classroom.'

"'But I just came here to nap,' Rocket said.

"'No, no!  There will be no napping in class,' declared the bird.  'Except of course during naptime.'"

Rocket initially retreats to a nearby spot where he can enjoy his well-earned nap, but that darned yellow bird begins reading aloud a great story about an unlucky dog who has lost his favorite bone.  Even worse, after Rocket is totally drawn into listening (instead of napping), she reaches a cliffhanger and then splits for the day.  What?!!!

And so it is that Rocket becomes motivated to attend class (as the bird's one and only pupil). In addition to listening to great read alouds, he begins learning his letters, one by one, and then learns how to read words.

Rocket turns out to be one heck of a reading dog. 

When the little yellow bird departs southward for winter break (She has read him anticipatory stories about leaves changing and migration.), Rocket is left alone.  But he is also a practicing fool, who is seen tracking out giant letter shapes in the snow and spelling aloud the names of everyone he encounters and everything in sight.

Then, to his delight, the little yellow bird returns with the spring and they resume reading his favorite stories, now taking turns.

This one may be pretty darn sweet, but it's chock full of really healthy ingredients for encouraging the growth of strong beginning readers.