The Review

Emma loves to draw. She tries watercolor, colored pencils and big bright magic markers. She shows her work to her mom, her dad, her neighbor and even to her brother. The problem is no matter how hard she tries, no one seems to recognize what she is drawing. Daddy, Mama, even kindly old Miss Marybeth does not know what Emma is creating. They all begin to give Emma suggestions for how she can make her pictures better. Emma is becoming very discouraged. Before long she crumples most of her pictures and throws them away. Later when Emma goes to tell Grammy it is time for supper she find Grammy standing on the bed and taping all the crumpled pictures to the wall. Grammy helps Emma realize that when we follow our heart then we can find joy in what we do; Emma was an artist because her pictures came from her heart.

Writer Reed has produced a small, eleven page work meant to be read to the younger set. Vocabulary used in Emma’s Masterpiece does not readily lend itself to read alone for most children in the 6 -7 year range. The older set 9 - 9 will enjoy reading Emma’s Masterpiece to their younger siblings. The PDF I was sent had no illustrations, however a search of the storyplus site reveals many titles listed some with and others without illustrations. The paucity of illustrations used on the pages of Emma’s Masterpiece would lend to quick classroom use as children try their own hands at producing horses or mice or other pictures of their liking. Emma’s Masterpiece offers an excellent teaching opportunity for guiding youngsters toward realizing that doing what is important to you and following your heart is more important than following someone else’s notions or dreams. This is a book I would be happy to use in my own Kindergarten. Happy to recommend

Reviewed by: Molly's Reviews molly martin Twenty + year classroom teacher hR>  Author: . Jennifer Reed Line/Publisher: Story Plus eBook Formats only ... I was sent a PDF for review available