David Shannon was born in Washington D.C. but grew up in Spokane, Washington. He wrote and illustrated his first book at the age of five; it was a book with pictures of all the things that he should not do with the only two words he could spell at the time: No, David! Later on in life, his mother found it and sent it to him. He decided to revamp his first book and turn it into his now classic best-selling, Caldecott Honor Book. David uses his real life experiences within his books. He has written many books in honor of his daughter such as Duck on a Bike (because his daughter made animal noises before she learned to talk) and Too Many Toys (which explains itself). He has also written stories about his West Highland terrier such as Good Boy, Fergus! Just like his first book, he has written three more books featuring David: David Gets in Trouble; David Goes to School.; and most recently, It’s Christmas, David!
A Bad Case of Stripes is about Camilla Cream who loves lima beans, but won't eat them because the other kids will think she's weird. As she is frantically trying to find the perfect outfit for the first day of school to impress all the other students, she breaks out into a bad case of stripes! None of her clothes will match her multicolored stripes! What is she to do now?
According to both rubrics, I believe that it is a really great book for its reading level. It says that it would interest PreK-3rd which I believe is accurate due to its colorful illustrations to entertain the younger crowd, but the vocabulary is strong enough for the older grades. Another strength about this book would be the message behind it which I will not share for those of you who have not read the book! I don't really have weaknesses for this book, but if I had to choose one, it could be a little more multicultural. There are illustrations of students from other cultures, but it doesn't really discuss anything cultural so maybe that could be a weakness if you were looking for a book with more cultural information in it.
Megan, I am WOWed by the fact that David Shannon wrote his first book at the age of five! My daughter loves his books (she is in the second grade) and to think that he revamped a book written when he was five just blows my mind. His books are very well illustrated, which is one of the reasons that my daughter loves them so much. I WONDER what kind of connections your students will make to this book?
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