Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock

Author: Retold by Eric A. Kimmel

Illustrator: Janet Stevens
Publisher: Holiday House

ISBN: 0-8234-0798-5

Imagine that… there is a life lesson to be learned from a silly children’s book.  Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock is a story about a spider that coaxes his friends to go into the woods to visit a magical moss-covered rock.  The magic of the rock is that if you say the magic phrase, “Isn’t this a strange moss-covered rock!” in front of the rock you will pass out for an hour.  Anansi makes this discovery on his own and then, because he is too lazy to gather his own food, uses this trickery on his friends.  When his friends pass out in front of the rock, Anansi goes back to their homes and takes their food.  All the while he is being watched by another friend, Little Bush Deer who eventually outwits Anansi at his own game and all the food is returned to its various owners.

The characters in the book are exotic animals, which children are always fascinated by.  The story also has a catchy and repetitive style that is perfect for a teacher who wants to keep all eyes and ears on the book.  Janet Stevens has this way of drawing animals to make them endearingly strange.  I would recommend this book to other teachers to share and enjoy with their students.

As we all know, once the drama, tragedy, and humor of a children’s book such as this one flies away into fantasyland, we are left with the moral of the story.  The author uses the tale to turn a world of make believe into a small piece of reality.  Eric A. Kimmel, through his version of the story, shows children that you can end up working harder scheming, as opposed to just doing the work.  This is great advice for people of all ages and it’s never too early to teach the importance of hard, honest work.  The book also shows that if you trick your friends enough, one of them just might get back at you.  You certainly won’t like the joke played on you.  

I could have used this lesson when I was younger.  One Halloween I was trick-or-treating with my brothers who often left me unattended.  I was being particularly lazy, which you might think would be uncommon for a girl roaming the neighborhood in a Wonder Woman costume.  During the house-to-house visits, one homeowner left the candy out on the steps.  I don’t know why that person would think that children would respect the honor system but maybe they assumed parents would be chaperoning.  With my five sticky fingers I picked up the plastic orange jack-o‘-lantern filled with treats by its black handle.  I decided to make that my last stop of the evening and quickly walked down the block away from the scene of the crime.  To my dismay, when I got home I realized that the bucket was mostly chocolate.  I do not like chocolate.  I loathe chocolate.  I got to watch my brothers eat all the good stuff they earned from going door to door... and they were never good at sharing.  Every Halloween since, I gladly went to each house just so I could reap the sweet benefits of a hard day's work. 

In my adult life, I make it a habit to follow the "Golden Rule" I learned in kindergarten, "Treat others the way you would like to be treated".

David Goes To School.

Author/Illustrator: David Shannon

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-545-29251-1

Imagine that... an elementary school student is having a tough time staying out of trouble in class.  We all know the list of rules that are expected to be followed in the classroom; not to mention how exhausting it can be to follow every single one!  In the book David Goes to School, David reminds us just how much easier it is to pass time when you have a little fun.  Unfortunately for David, this must be done at the expense of constant reminders to settle down and ultimately... detention.


Throughout his school day, David finds himself being admonished for his tardiness, his inability to be patient, and a handful of other childish acts.  David appears to be nothing more than a distraction for the rest of the class.  At the end of the day the teacher still gives David a pat on the head and rewards him with a star- a positive reinforcement that, as a teacher, I know well.  Simply because a child is a bit misbehaved does not mean they are not trying.


Before reading this book, the illustration on the cover implied mischief to me and instantly reminded me of myself in elementary school.  While reading the story beyond the cover, each page continued to be a flashback to my days in P.S.45.


I would not describe myself as being a bad kid, but my name was frequently on the “bad” list along with the other regulars.  I rarely made it to the “good” list, with it's set of regulars. Each day one of the “good” children was chosen to be the monitor and write the list.  I especially remember this clearly from the fourth grade where my teacher, Mrs. Friedman, eventually assigned me a seat that was off to the side, isolated from the rest of the class.


I remember my teachers constantly telling me to pay attention; many reports of parent teacher conferences were about my talking and daydreaming in class.  It seems like David and I have many things in common.  This is one of the numerous reasons why I enjoy this book and love to share it with my students.


From cover to cover there is no wonder why author/ illustrator David Shannon received a Caldecott Honor.  Each page is a timeless portrait of any classroom, on any day, in any school in America. In many of the pages I can see myself in David’s place being politely scolded for my excited behavior. With seasonal decorations, a globe, and a poster board of the alphabet, it is also a tiring reminder of how much effort we teachers put into the decorating of our own classrooms.