THANK YOU, MISS DOOVER

Poor Miss Doover—it's no easy feat to get her class to write tactful thank-you notes in proper friendly-letter format. Miss Doover is full of advice about the revision process, encouraging her students to specifically mention the gift, how it made them feel and how they will use it. But this advice backfires on her when Jack writes about the stationery Great Aunt Gertie sent him. Through successive drafts (each funnier than the last), readers gradually learn exactly what Jack (and his puppy) did with the paper. And, although Jack follows his teacher’s advice to the letter, his thank-you note is not exactly what she had in mind…nor are several of his classmates’. Pulver’s characterization of the elementary schoolers’ thought processes and lack of tact is spot-on. Sisson’s colored pencil–and-acrylic illustrations go hand-in-hand with the funny text, ably filling in the subtext both within the classroom and between the lines of Jack's notes. Full-page spreads alternate with pages divided comic-book style to allow the humor to build and keep the story flowing. Educators and parents will be thanking author and illustrator for this one. (Picture book. 5-8)