MOO HOO

MOO HOO by Candance Ryan and illustrated by Mike Lowery is coming April 2012 and is a book you won't want to miss!  I was very fortunate to receive this ARC while at NCTE in Chicago from Walker and Company/Bloomsbury Kids. 

Cow and Owl are best friends.  They do lots of things together and have great fun as friends do.  As we know, friendships can be hard when new friends come and this isn't any different for Cow and Owl when Kangaroo comes.  My heart tugged when Kangaroo left because Cow and Owl ignored him.  Then Cow and Owl realize when Kangaroo is gone and things aren't quite exciting.  Kangaroo had some good qualities and seemed to do some fun things.  After this trio reunites they decide three is better than two.  Isn't that a great message for students?  We all know sometimes trios are hard for young children. 

What I find most fascinating as a reader is the rhyming conversation between Cow, Owl, and Roo.  Two word sentences convey a storyline.  My students always love the word boo and will easily pick up on all these rhyming words with boo making this a great shared reading which will lead to independent reading.  The monotone warm hues of color used to illustrate this text are soft and inviting.  I think the characters and warmth of this book will make it a fast circulating book in our classroom library when it comes out.

This is a companion book to Ribbit, Rabbit.