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A Balloon for Isabel

by Laura Rankin
32p. 978-0-06177-987-9.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 2 On graduation day, every animal will receive a balloonexcept for Isabel and Walter, because their quills don't mix well with inflatables. Their teacher promises them each a special graduation bookmark, but the young porcupines long for balloons. Iris sets out to design the perfect apparatus to shield their quills, and after several tries, she finds the perfect solution. Illustrations full of color and personality add to the story's depth and appeal. Authentic dialogue, a touch of humor, and Isabel's ingenious invention make this tale of desire and determination a keeper."Amanda Moss Struckmeyer, Middleton Public Library, WI" Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc.
Young porcupine Isabel is peeved: the other animals in her graduating class get balloons, while she is slated for a boring bookmark because her teacher believes that "balloons are not safe for porcupines." The wonderful denouement exposes the humanness of even stubborn grownups. The art is hilarious, especially vignettes showing an increasingly miffed Isabel receiving bookmarks at previous school celebrations.
Children will relate to Isabel’s frustrations with her school’s rules and admire her perseverance in finding a solution on which her teacher and classmates can agree. Thanks to minutely observed details, Deborah Underwood makes the characters’ fascination with balloons realistic and contagious. Isabel, for one, longs to hear a balloon’s “soft, thumpy sound” as it hits a ceiling. A skewed but warm sense of humor marks Underwood’s writing. “If a balloon popped on your quills, it would scare you,” Ms. Quill tells Isabel. Isabel clasps her hands, looks up innocently, and replies, “I am not scared of anything, except the vacuum cleaner.” Laura Rankin’s bright color palette is the perfect complement to this sweet and original story.

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