When young children come to the library at the beginning of 2nd grade, they will frequently ask for "chapter books." This means that they are beginning to be able to read and would like something more challenging than a picture book.
One of the difficulties many children have is that they are still learning basic reading skills, such as decoding letters and words, and so they struggle with reading text. It is always important to assist early readers so that they feel "grown-up" and beyond the supposed simplicity of picture books. The best picture books are actually quite complicated, but these aspiring readers see them increasingly as books for "little kids."
So the challenge for teachers, parents and librarians is to find interesting chapter books that expand the children’s interests, while not being too difficult to read. Kevin Henkes has written a lovely set of early chapter books with a mouse named Penny as the central character. This delightful book is entitled "Penny and Her Marble."
It is early in the day and Penny is pushing her baby doll named Rose in the stroller. Her mother calls out that Penny is not to go past Mrs. Goodwin’s house. Penny and Rose start on their adventure down the sidewalk. Penny tells her doll to pretend that they are in a city with tall buildings. Next, Penny says that all the trees are a forest and it is important that they don’t get lost. With her imagination soaring, Penny invents an imaginary airplane and she and Rose soar above the earth.
After they return to the ground, Penny finds that she and her doll have arrived at Mrs. Goodwin’s house. As she is about to turn back a shiny marble catches her eye. It is as blue as the sky or a robin’s egg. She bends down and examines the marble. It is so irresistible that Penny wants it more than anything. She knows that the marble isn’t hers, but the temptation is so great that she reaches down and picks up the exquisite treasure. Glancing around quickly to see if anyone saw her picking up the marble, she hurries home with occasional looks over her shoulder.
When back in her room, Penny begins playing with the marble. It rolls so nice and is so smooth. Its blue color is so beautiful that she is captivated. But as Penny continues to play with the marble, her conscience becomes unsettled. She knows the marble doesn’t belong to her. Why did she pick it up? The marble begins to feels heavy and her heart grows increasingly anxious. She begins to feel dishonest and deceitful.
Wanting to get away from these painful feelings, Penny tosses the marble in her dresser and goes downstairs. But all day long she feels guilty and ashamed. Her parents notice it but can’t get to the problem she is facing. After a trying night, Penny decides to act. She takes the marble and leaves the house.
What happens to Penny? Does she keep the marble or give it back? What wonderful consequence happens because of her decision? Have you ever picked up something that didn’t belong to you? How did that make you feel? What did you decide to do? How does Penny feel at the end of the book? To find out, go to the library and check out this touching story, "Penny and Her Marble," by Kevin Henkes.
This book is one title in a series of books written about Penny’s adventures by Kevin Henkes. He is a marvelous writer and tells the most beautiful stories for young children. I hope you get a chance to read this title or any of the other "Penny" books. I think you will like them; I certainly did. Enjoy!
