The First Four-leaf Clover Book Recommendation: Read for Luck!

I've posted book "reviews" and sparkle summaries. On Wednesdays, I've also posted articles about READ FOR LUCK. These will be books that meet my "badge of approval." See this trinket? It says "Rub for Luck." My badge of approval is "Read for Luck." According to fourleafclover.com:
writing picture books. Since Wednesdays are dedicated to picture books, I've decided to streamline my entries by giving you a new-ish type feature. My four-leaf clover book recommendation is called

"In Irish tradition the Shamrock or 3-leaf Clover represents the Holy Trinity: one leaf for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit. When a Shamrock is found with the fourth leaf, it represents God's Grace."

Contemporary meanings of the four-leaf clover are:

1. One leaf is for FAITH...     
2. The second for HOPE...
3. The third for LOVE...         
4. And the fourth for LUCK!

READ FOR LUCK:

1. Recommended for CHILDREN
2. Recommended for PARENTS
3. Recommended for TEACHERS
4. Recommended for WRITERS

All great picture books fall under these categories, but it's more fun to split them up. So here goes. (The summaries are not in my own words, but the READ FOR LUCK is.)

1. CHILDREN:  

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If You Were a Parrot 

Written by Katherine Rawson

Illustrated by Sherry Rogers

Sylvan Dell Publishing, 2006

Summary: A whimsical book that has the child imagining what life would be like if he or she were a pet parrot. The parrot’s special feet allow it to climb curtains, bookshelves, and plants.  The hooked beak lets the parrot chew all kinds of great food: seeds, nuts, chair legs, popsicles – sticks and all, and even a telephone directory! Join the parrot as it goes through its daily routine of climbing, chewing, eating, bathing, and finally, snuggling down for the night after a long day of parrot fun. 

READ FOR LUCK: Kids will love squawking and climbing and chewing on pencils right along with the parrots in the book. Such fun illustrations that kids will be laughing out loud and dreaming up other animals for pretend play. There's also a beak craft in the back you can copy and make.

What other animals do your children love to pretend they are?

2. PARENTS:

The Boy Who Wouldn't Go to Bed

By Helen Cooper 

Dial Books for Young Readers, 1997

Summary: A boy who does not want to go to bed has a series of imaginary encounters with a tiger, soldiers, the moon, and others, all of whom convince him to change his mind.

READ FOR LUCK: The illustrations are larger than life. This is a great bedtime snuggle book for 2-5 year olds.

What is one of your favorite bedtime books?

3. TEACHERS:

Bridget's Beret 

by Tom Lichtenheld

Christy Ottaviano Books/Henry Hold and Company, 2010

Summary: When Bridget loses the beret that provides her with artistic inspiration like other great artists, she thinks she will never be able to draw again.

READ FOR LUCK: Escpecially good for an art teacher or in an art class. Can also be used in a regular classroom in a unit on careers, dreams, determination, or before a lesson that will include a drawing assignment. Everyone can draw. Could even do a book comparison with Scribble by Deborah Freedman.

Any other ideas to use this book in the classroom?

4. WRITERS:

The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone

by Timothy Basil Ering

Candlewick Press, 2003

Summary: Set in a gray, endless place called Cementland, this is the story of a boy who finds strange, specklike treasures and the preternaturally wise creature he creates to watch over them while they grow. Taking its title from a little string of nonsense words Tim

Ering invented and its heart and inspiration from an urban community garden, The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone plays on a medley of themes ranging from magic to cooperation to patience, from the greening of cities to the blossoming of the human spirit.

READ FOR LUCK: Anytime a debut picture book author makes it to the land of the golden publication world, it is a time for us aspiring writing (and published to boot) to study their craft by studying the story. I especially love the use of the repeating rhythm and rhyming lines in: "Frog Belly Rat Bone, one, two, three... The specks in the earth are protected by me. You must be patient and then you will see..."

If you have read this, or get a chance to soon, what else can you take away from this book, as a writer?

So that was the first installment of my READ FOR LUCK Wednesdays. Hope you come back for more next week. And as always, thanks for visiting!