Title: Loud Emily
Author: Alexis O’Neill
Illustrator: Nancy Carpenter
Publisher: Aladdin
ISBN: 0689810784
Poor Emily. Born with an abnormally loud voice, Emily irritates almost everyone in her household, except her family’s cook. The cook finds Emily’s loud voice useful for calling in the servants, and when Cook takes Emily to the harbor to buy fresh fish for dinner, Emily finds a real occupation for her voice: working on a whaling ship calling out the captain’s orders “from the fo’c’sle to quarter-deck above gale force wind.” What follows is an adventure filled full of mariner’s vocabulary, averted disasters, and a chance for Emily to shine. Set in what appears to be New England in the 1800s, this is a fun book for all ages. The illustrations are beautiful and reminiscent of era artwork, only with a whimsical element. The endpapers are in the style of scrimshaw carvings and are illustrated with illustrations from boats and chanteys that were sung on whaling vessels. My girls, ages 4 and 2 1/2, loved this book.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Easy Books, Picture Books |
Hope Is the Word 
I read this one to my class every year. I had the great fortune to attend a workshop with the author. She suggested, and it works really well, to have the kids shout Emily lines while you are reading. My class loves it!