Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, dear friends. And today is such a special day for this particular book because it is the one-year birthday for PENNY AND THE PLAIN PIECE OF PAPER.

HURRAY!!!!! What a beautiful book Miri Leshem-Pelly created! And I’m so thrilled to be able to share it with you. Miri is not only mega-talented…she is also mega-generous and one lucky winner is going to snag a Picture Book Critique or a Zoom chat with Miri…so make sure you leave a comment. Maybe you could tell us what YOU would write/draw on your plain piece of paper.

PENNY AND THE PLAIN PIECE OF PAPER

Written and illustrated by Miri Leshem-Pelly

Published by Philomel (2020)

Ages: 4-8+

Themes: SEL, creativity, self-esteem

Synopsis from Amazon:

One little doodle girl takes control of her own creative destiny in this funny and imaginative book perfect for fans of Harold and the Purple Crayon!

Penny lives on a plain piece of paper, with just one problem–she’s bored. There’s nothing to do, no one to talk to, not a single way to keep herself entertained! Not one to wallow, Penny makes a decision: it’s high time she ventured out into the world and explored other types of paper.

But when she’s not serious enough for the newspaper, not angular enough for the graph paper, and not repetitive enough for the wrapping paper, Penny doesn’t know where she belongs. With some help from the friends she’s met along her journey, though, she comes up with the perfect paper plan for herself.

In this fun and funny book about fitting in and finding home, imagination wins the day!

Praise for Penny and the Plain Piece of Paper:

* “Penny’s journey through varying visual styles is bright, fascinating, and funny . . . Irresistibly touchable.” —Kirkus Reviews, *STARRED REVIEW*

Why I Love This Book:

1. Simple yet vivid illustrations engage the reader.
2. Text perfectly portrays Penny’s search for where she belongs.
3. I love books that encourage children to be creative…and to love who they are.

RELATED ACTIVITIES:

Working with paper is always fun for kids – just pull out the crayons or markers and many will be happy to doodle for hours. Add scissors and glue and you could spend a whole day creating amazing things. Check out some of these projects: https://www.thejoysharing.com/2020/02/paper-crafts-for-kids.html

Please remember that the best way to thank an author for her beautiful books is to buy them and review them, tell friends about them, and ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection.

Here’s a link for the Teacher’s Guide that Miri created for Penny and the Plain Piece of Paper. It’s a 14-page PDF with many creative activities, available for free on Penguin Classroom website:https://penguinclassroom.com/books/penny-and-the-plain-piece-of-paper/

And here’s a link for the wonderful trailer: https://youtu.be/QxDqrSrXfgU

And a few more links so you can connect with Miri and find out more about her wonderful books:
Book page
Her website
Free downloads
Kirkus starred review

And guess what, dear friends? Miri will be back on September 4th for Will Write for Cookies. I can’t wait to see what delights she will be sharing with us them! Please make sure you leave a comment to be entered in the wonderful giveaway…and please share this post on your social media.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!