The Umbrella

Title: The Umbrella
Author: Jan Brett
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile, September 13, 2004
Reading Level: Kindergarten and up
Pages: 32
Genre: Informational





Summary:

Carlos decides to go to the rainforest to find animals that live there. He brings his umbrella and leaves it as the bottom of the tree as he climbs up. However, he should have stayed at the bottom! First to come is a tree frog and he checks out Carlos' umbrella. While Carlos is up in the tree many more animals come, even a jaguar! The umbrella is knocked into the river and all the animals are hanging on. It is so full that when the hummingbird comes to fit it everybody tumbles out and the umbrella gets knocked back to the tree. Carlos climbs down and wonders why he didn't see any animals all day. Jan Brett's pictures are amazing! You will love to just sit and look at them. On the left page there is always something from the previous pages, and on the right there is always something on the next pages. The last page shows Carlos walking around, and, if you look hard enough, you can find all the animals.

My Reaction:

I loved this book! Not only will kids love the story of animals hitching a ride in an umbrella it teaches them what kinds of animals live in rain forests. It would be fun to have them write a report on there favorite animal in the book.

Potential Problems:

I don't think there are any potential problems in this story. Some kids might be sad that Carlos wasn't able to see any animals, but I think they will be too involved with the pictures to worry about it very much.

Recommendations:

I would recommend this to anybody. Younger kids will love the story line as well as the pictures, and adults will love and appreciate the detail within the pictures. It's fun to see what lives in the rain forest, and everybody can learn something from it.