The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Twenty-Five

Every so often I encounter a situation that makes me wish I was someone or something else. As I try to cajole my body to open up for my yoga practice, I wish I was one of those yoga teachers who look as if every limb and joint is made of rubber. As I try to do everything that needs to be done, I wish I was the cat who can sleep the day away in the sun. Today's picture book is about some children who wish "just for one day" that they could be something else.

For just one Day

Laura Leuck

Illustrations by Marc Boutavant

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 7

Chronicle Books, 2009, 978-0-8118-5610-2

   Most of us have those moments when we wish we were someone or something else. As we try to look over tall grass in a field we wish we were a giraffe, as we puff and pant our way along during a race we wish we were a cheetah. In this book, we meet some children who dream, “just for one day,” that they could be something else.

   As she draws a picture of a flower, a little girl wishes she could be a bee, and as he waits to cross a road on a wet day, a little boy wishes he could be a crocodile that has “the sharpest, snapping smile.” As she struggles with her snarled hair, a girl wishes she could be a porcupine. How much better a “coat of needles” would be, than a head of hair. Then there is a boy whose brother is laughing at him. He would like to be a big bear who’d “give my brother quite a scare.”

   Young children will have no problem connecting with the children in this book. They know exactly what it is like to wish one was a bear, or a whale, a chimpanzee, or a snake. They will be especially delighted when they come to the surprise ending.