Picture Book Monday - A Review of Read me a story, Stella

Soon after I launched Through the Looking Glass I started reading some books about a little girl called Stella and her little brother Sam. The books were written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay, and they are such a joy to read that I am delighted that there is a new Stella book out to enjoy.

Read me a story, Stella

Marie-Louise Gay

Picture Book

For ages 4 to 7

Groundwood Books, 2013, 978-1-55498-216-5

One day Stella is picking apples when her little brother Sam turns up. He is pulling a wagon full of branches and old boards, which, he says, he is going to use to build a doghouse for Fred the dog. Sam gets to work and he soon finds out that building a doghouse is not an easy thing to do. While he is struggling with his boards and sticks, Stella is lying in a hammock reading a book and laughing. Apparently the story she is reading is funny. Sam asks if the book contains doghouse building tips, and since it doesn’t, Stella helps her brother with his project.

   Later on the children go down to the pond. While Sam explores, Stella reads about “a big old toad wearing a velvet jacket.” When Sam finds a caterpillar, Stella finds him a picture of one in her insect book and tells him that caterpillars turn into butterflies.

   Next Sam teaches Fred how to fly a kite, and when Fred accidentally lets go of the kite string and the kite floats off, Stella reassures Sam that his kite will not “get burned by the sun” because kites “Know their way around the sky.”
   In this charming Stella adventure we share a perfect day with Stella, Sam, and Fred. The skies are blue, the sun is shining, and Stella always has something new and interesting to tell her little brother. She finds some of her information in her beloved books, and the rest comes from her own well of little girl wisdom.

   In this wonderful picture book the author shows to great effect that sometimes the best adventures are simple everyday ones.