Straight to the Pole

"Frozen and alone. Pressing on through the snow." Swathed in winter gear and a backpack, a solitary child trudges through a fierce snowstorm, braving wind and ice. Wearing a stocking cap and a scarf tied around his (or her-the gender is never specified) head, only his eyes are showing. "This is gonna hurt!" he moans as he slips and slides, and then clings, exhausted, onto a tree trunk. "Can't go on," reads the large print caption on the page. And then, in balloon dialogue, he groans, "I told Mom this would happen." He spies a WOLF! "I'm doomed." Really? A wolf? Well, actually, your readers of this simply written picture book, narrated by the main character, will notice by now that the kid's being a bit melodramatic. The "wolf" is really a friendly brown dog with a red collar, bounds over and leaps up to try to lick the child's face. "WON'T SOMEBODY SAVE ME?" the boy declaims. Then help appears, in the guise of two similarly clad children, carrying sleds, who inform him that school has been closed for the day. Off he runs, jubilant, leaving his backpack at the bus stop.

Themes : ADVENTURE & ADVENTURERS. CREATIVE DRAMA. DOGS. IMAGINATION.