Tonya's new puppy is a sweet little dog. Tonya calls her puppy Lacy. Soon Tonya is dismayed to find Lacy has developed a bump on her back. After a few days the bump reveals wings. Lacy is soon flying everywhere. I think the premise found in Lacy is one children will find intriguing, however the author might consider a little rework. The wings little Lacy sprouts are very recognizable as Monarch butterfly wings and I believe that even very young kiddies would question them. Reading the opening statement re the author I find Mrs Johnson did her own art work using an Adobe program, perhaps a 'fuzzing' of the wings to make them less Monarch butterfly and more Lacy puppy would produce a more acceptable to kiddies illustration. I like the idea of the puppy developing into something a little different than the norm. And the pages in which the author shows Lacy learning to use her new wings are ones little children will identify with, most kiddies are very aware of the problems inherent in learning to deal with society at large. I would like to see Lacy face some initial stigma and she and her dog friends learn that 'different' is okay rather than just reading that Lacy flew here and there and then had a birthday party and friends even though she is different. The author did not lead us to expect that the birthday party and the fact that it is okay to be different were coming. There had been no social problem with Lacy's differentness introduced thus we are unprepared to accept the phrase. I do think this little book Lacy has some good possibility with a bit of rework. The issue of 'different' would fit nicely in a teaching unit regarding 'differences' if we were to find Lacy experiencing both a problem and a resolution to that problem. Suggestion: name your target audience and reading grade level so that teacher's and school media personnel can easily note them.
Reviewed by Molly Martin, Oklahoma (20+ years in the classroom.) http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mollymartin/
by :Tina Johnson Genre: children's book Adventure Books Publisher
