Annie and Simon: The Sneeze and Other Stories (Candlewick Readers)

PreS-Gr 2--Annie, a prereader, loves to draw and has an incredibly patient, attentive big brother; their interactions are chronicled throughout four chapters in this book for fluent beginning readers. The first chapter takes place at a lake where the siblings look for living things for Annie to draw: a frog, a crayfish, a clam, and a dragonfly. Simon gently suggests that she make some changes to her work and provides some interesting facts about the creatures. In the second chapter, Annie is convinced that Simon is sick because he is sneezing and has a warm forehead. Her efforts to care for him require her brother's help, but he is finally able to rest when he reads a book to Annie. In the third chapter, Simon postpones looking at Annie's new pictures until he reads "three hundred and six" more pages of his book while reclining in a hammock. Annie impatiently waits and becomes distracted by the neighbor's cat, and wishes her dog, Hazel, had some feline attributes. She tries to convince Simon that she has taught Hazel to purr. In the concluding chapter, Simon and Annie gather horse chestnuts and later must track them down when a squirrel buries them. Readers will enjoy the clever, humorous ending for each chapter, and adults may appreciate opportunities to extend the tales with informational texts about aquatic and domestic animals. Expressive, distinctive watercolor paintings depict the love and activities these siblings share in a quaint frame house in the country.--Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI