All the Animals Where I Live by Philip C. Stead
Published by Roaring Brook Press on March 20th 2018
ISBN: 1626726566
Pages: 48
Goodreads

Philip Stead has written a story that is part memory and part imagination. He tells the reader of his move from the city to the country and the animals that he encounters. He then takes the reader back to his childhood, to his grandmother who made him a stuffed bear- that he still has and the quilt she covered him with- the ones with chickens on it. This is the memory part of the book. Now he invites the reader on an imaginary journey – if his grandmother had been an animal- she would have been a hummingbird. She would have introduced herself to the animals in the neighborhood.

This is a storybook , the text is soft and needs to be read slowly, like a story is told. The illustrations are soft and quiet, they support the story and they too should be looked at slowly and savored. This is a story to be enjoyed and talked about. Discussions on what wildlife lives in the reader’s neighborhood, about grandparents and their role in the readers life , and to be always observant in our lives.

grades K-4

Submitted by Kathy George

                             Gray Public LIbrary