SLOWPOKE

This entertaining early reader features Fiona, a girl who really, really likes to stop and smell the roses. Fiona goes through her day in slow motion, taking her time as she gets ready for school, eats dinner, feeds the dog and takes a bath. Her family, on the other hand, lives in fast-forward mode and thrives on multitasking. Frustrated with Fiona’s slowness, her parents send her to Speed School, where the class motto is: “The less I see, the faster I will be.” Being super speedy does not suit Fiona, so she decides to conduct Slow School for her clan. Her counter-slogan: “[T]he more I see, the better my day will be.” In the end, Fiona and her family all learn to operate both slowly and speedily, though Fiona still prefers to take her time. The text is interspersed with black-and-white illustrations that do a stellar job of conveying both leisure and frenzy. A clever early reader with challenging vocabulary and some food for thought to boot. (Early reader. 6-9)