Hi, I’m Rebecca. I write books and I write here at This Joyful Mess to inspire everyone to find JOY in the everyday messes of life. Here you’ll find inspiration, educational resources, and so much more. Please explore and connect—I’d love to hear from you!
Too Tall for Truth: Tall Tales - John Henry by Julius Lester
An authentic, engaging voice mingles fantasy with reality.
Pinkney’s vivid artwork combines with Lester’s picturesque text to make the telling of the story every bit as “larger than life” as the subject of the story. Lester fills his pages with word pictures, “bat wings on tombstones” and personification, the sun flossing, the wind out of breath. Yet...
Bizarre Title Day: The Book of Three
The heavy info-drop at the start of this book made me put it aside several times. The only reason I plugged ahead was because I had to complete this list!
I’m mixed. On one had the action is compelling and well-done and the plot moves fairly smoothly...
That Ain't no Bull! Or, maybe it is... The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Detailed line drawings showing wonderful expression and a grand fairy tale opening make for a timeless story.
Dear Ferdinand is different...
All Time Fave: Where the Wild Things Are
Illustrations and text work together to move the story forward. In the first spread Max faces the farthest edge, urging the reader to turn the page quickly as the text hints at all the mischief he’s carrying out. The next spread shows him running down the stairs, the very stairs that will, on the next page, take him right back up and into his bedroom for bed without supper. As Max slips...
Chilling History Lessons: Hitler Youth
Fascinating and similar in tone and writing style to Darkness Over Denmark. Both take the individual stories from this horrid time in history and weave them into a steady and powerful narrative. I found myself caught up in the history—like that Hitler coming to power after the great depression meant a world-wide work shortage and tight immigration quotas so that the Jews who might have otherwise escaped...
Brrrrrrrrrrr - The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Keats captures the wonder of a snowy day in the story of Peter’s enjoyment of the season’s first snow. He shows pleasures that might seem mundane to an adult, dragging of a stick to make tracks, whapping a tree for the onomatopoeic “Plop!” of snow...
Outfoxing the Fox in Doctor De Soto
Anthropomorphism lightens this harrowing tale. Written in a nursery tale style, the story of Dr. De Soto’s escape from the wiley fox feels like a modern Little Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The husband and wife dentistry team...
Caps for Sale! A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and their Monkey Business
Slobodkina’s use of an adult protagonist empowers children one cap at a time. As he tries to reclaim his caps from the mischievous monkeys, the child-reader is one step ahead, seeing the solution to his problem before he does. The author highlights this through simple illustrations that make use of the same or similar scenes...
Song of the Waterboatman and other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman
Stunning illustrations. And lovely poems. I’m not sure they capture essence as well as Zolotow. I’m perhaps looking for an Annie Dillard of children’s poetry, but maybe Sidman is more accessible to a child than Zolotow (who is more Dillardy).
Classics and Caterpillars and Chocolate Cake!
Concept book in disguise!
A little caterpillar eats too much, gets a tummy ache, then rights his eating habits and turns into a butterfly. The story itself is engaging, but it also teaches the days of the week, counting, one-to-one correspondence...