Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Jake's Best Thumb

Read: 12/9/2008

Jake's Best Thumb by Ilene Cooper, Illustrated by Claudio Munoz

Jake is a little boy who loves to suck his thumb. He doesn't really think sucking his thumb is a problem until he goes to Kindergarten. Cliff catches him doing it and loudly tells the class that Jake is a thumb-sucker. Jake feels embarrassed and harassed by the bullying Cliff, but also befriends Nell, a girl who has a special stuffed kitty that she has to bring to class. Cliff harasses Jake one time too many and we discover his own security blanket which falls out of his pocket. In the end, there is a truce and all the kids try to stop using their security items during the day.

The pen and watercolor illustrations are clear, big and colorful. The kids represented are a mix of ethnicities, which is good. I'd say this would be a perfect book to read at a storytime for Kindergarteners or with a child who hasn't given up her "lovey" just yet.

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