Product Description

write what she knows,"" young Eva takes the literary advice of her neighbors while adding a few embellishments that make her neighborhood seem much more exciting than she realized.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5624 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780531071366
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4?Schotter offers blocked young writers some savvy advice as she gives the premise of Ellen Raskin's Nothing Ever Happens on My Block (Aladdin, 1989) a contemporary flavor?in more ways than one. Sitting on her stoop with a Danish and a notebook as blank as her mind, Eva searches for inspiration as passing residents share words of wisdom: watch carefully, don't neglect details, use words in new ways ("Try to find the poetry in your pudding"), stretch the truth if necessary, make something happen. Taking the last to heart, Eva crumbles up her pastry to attract a flock of pigeons, setting off a chain of small accidents, chance meetings, and conversations, all of which she happily records. By the end, good things have come to everyone: an actor "on hiatus" lands a job offer, romance blooms between a pizza man and a lonely dancer, and the addition of some spilled coffee changes a vendor's bland chocolate mousse into mocha so magnificent that he is inspired to open a cafe with two new friends. Brooker incorporates pieces of newspaper, scraps of patterned cloth, and small objects into her paintings of a thoroughly lived-in urban neighborhood. Against backgrounds that have the intimacy and flattened perspective of a small stage, she poses her characters in appropriately theatrical stances; their wide gestures and exaggerated expressions suit this lively, fluently told tale perfectly.?John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4^-7. Eva's homework assignment is to write about what she knows, but she thinks that observing the goings-on in her neighborhood will be boring. At first she's right. One neighbor doesn't smile, several have job problems, one can't get his mousse to taste right. All of them have suggestions for Eva's writing, though. They advise her to stretch the truth, add action as if it were seasoning, and, most of all, when the story bogs down, ask, "What if . . . ?" and try to figure out what happens next. That's just what Eva does, and with the help of her manipulation, neighbors start falling in love, opening restaurants, and adding mocha to mousse. The story meanders at times, but Brooker's snazzy artwork will keep readers and listeners focused. Resembling the pictures of Lane Smith but executed in collage, the stylized art has action and humor enough for children but is visually interesting enough to appeal to adults reading it aloud. An excellent choice to use with older children studying creative writing. Ilene Cooper

From Kirkus Reviews
From Schotter (A Fruit and Vegetable Man, 1993, etc.), the story of a would-be writer and her blank page, and the life going on all around her. Eva sits out on her New York City stoop, with her notebook, waiting for something to occur. Each neighbor who passes gives her writing tips: ``Try to find poetry in your pudding,'' suggests Mr. Morley, the maker of mundane mousses. ``Stretch,'' says dour dancer Alexis Leora, encouraging Eva to use her imagination. But it isn't until Eva takes matters into her own hands, by feeding her half-eaten Danish to some birds, that a domino effect transforms her neighborhood and gives her enough material to fill her notebook with observations more fantastic than fiction. Among the whirlwind of activity, the dancer and the pizza boy collide and fall in love, and Mr. Morley's mousse gets an accidental altering that turns it into a tasty treat. Schotter's story and Brooker's collages perfectly capture the cluttered eclecticism of New York City street life, so readers will forgive the author if the story lacks focus: The writing tips (which children will like) are lost in the blizzard of activity. (Picture book. 5-10) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

A Great and Useful Book!
This is a wonderfully imaginative book filled with lively characters and surprising events. I've read it to my class and they've asked for it again and again. Even more importantly, it has stimulated and improved their writing skills and inspired them to try their own version of this story. A great help in the classroom, and, a lot of fun!

Wonderful for elementary writing strategies.
As Eva records in her writer's notebook she believes she has nothing to write about. Her colorful neighbors, however, prove this to be quite far from the truth. Each rich character offers sound writing strategies that Eva applies to her writing. A lonely retired actor encourages her to look for the details all around. The prima ballerina who never smiles invites Eva to stretch her imagination. Mrs. Martinez advises Eva to add spice to her writing as she does to her Mexican soup. Mr. Morley suggests she ask herself, " What if?" All the events add up to a story that Eva has recorded for all to enjoy. An additional benefit is the new business created as a result of hilarious circumstances. Writing teachers will return to this delightful story again and again to encourage children to try the same stratgies in their own writing.

A Wonderfully Entertaining and Educational Book
A fun romp full of wonderful characters, plus helpful tidbits to improve children's writing. A multicultural and intergenerational story in an urban setting, in which the soap opera star Saundra Saunderson and the fish store owner Mr. Chang come together with many other colorful neighbors to create a community on 90th Street. Eva, the child writer, records and participates in all the action and finally comes up with an extraordinary topic for her school assignment. A funny, great and useful tale to teach and read, whether you live on 90th Street, in the suburbs, or in the country.