Writerly Review: Ella and Penguin Stick Together

PLUS: A Giveaway!
By Chana Stiefel

​Last month, I hit the jackpot. No, not the billion-dollar Powerball. A close second, I won a year’s supply of debut picture books in a raffle celebrating KidLit411’s birthday bash. WOOHOO! Sharing the love, here's a writerly review of one of the first picture books I received: ELLA AND PENGUIN STICK TOGETHER by Megan Maynor, Illustrated by Rosalinde Bonnet (Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2016), plus our very first GIVEAWAY!
 
Ella is excited to share with her friend Penguin a sheet of glow-in-the-dark stickers. But the only way to see them glow is to step into a dark closet. As Ella leans in, she says, “The dark is so . . . dark!” Ella and Penguin try out other “mostly dark” options, but . . . no glow. The two friends learn that when they stick together, not only can they face their fears, but they can have a raucously fun time too.
 
This debut picture book has some great takeaways for aspiring authors:

• Clever title. Get it? STICK TOGETHER.
• Several layers. It’s a story about friendship, problem solving, building confidence, overcoming fear, imaginative play, and yes…love of those magical stickers. All of that with a...
• Low word count: 461 to be exact.
• The characters arc. The cautious duo we meet on the opening spreads gradually grow and develop in a charming and relatable way.
• The conflict presents itself early in the story. “Yikes!” yelps Penguin when Ella explains that these aren’t just ordinary stickers—they glow in the DARK!
• Rule of Three. Threes hook the reader and provide a rhythm to the text. One example: Ella and Penguin try out the stickers in the “mostly dark”—behind the shower curtain, under the laundry basket, and beneath umbrellas. All three are kid-friendly examples that readers can easily try on their own. The author includes many other Threes throughout the text.
• Sweet humor. Penguin asks about these extraordinary stickers—“Are they smelly? Can you eat them? Do they talk?” 
• The illustrations and text work closely together. Bonnett did a beautiful job making the stickers glow.
• Satisfying conclusion. No spoilers here.

My only wish is that the book included a sheet of glow-in-the-dark stickers so readers (and I) could get right to work. But I imagine Maynor and Bonnett will pack lots of stickers for their many author-illustrator visits to come.
Want to receive your own free copy of ELLA AND PENGUIN? Megan Maynor has generously offered a signed copy to one lucky winner. Enter our very first GIVEAWAY below!
UPDATE: To enter (should take less than a minute): 1) Click on Comments beneath the Rafflecopter box and Facebook & Twitter icons on the lower left. (It's there but it's faint...a web host problem.) 2) Leave a Reply. (Thanks!) 3) Click on Rafflecopter box 4) Click on Leave a blog post comment. ("I commented") 5) Optional additional entries: Follow us on Twitter @kidlittakeaways.com and Retweet the link to this blog. That's it! You're golden!

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