Minerva+Louise


 * Book Review **
 * Bibliographical Data **
 * ** Title: ** Minerva Louise by: Janet Morgan Stoeke
 * ** Publisher: ** E.P. Dutton (March 31, 1988)
 * ** ISBN ** : 0-525-44374-6 (hard cover)
 * ** Pages: ** 22
 * ** Age Range: ** beginning readers- grades k-2
 * ** Language: ** English

“Minerva Louise” is about a hen that spends her day exploring a farmhouse that she has always loved. The farmhouse has red curtains and many other items that are unfamiliar to Minerva Louise. As she explores, she confuses the items in the house with items that you would find on a farm. Minerva has a great time in the house, but wishes she had someone to play with. At the end of the story she decides she loves the house and will come back again to play.
 * Summary: **

I love this book! This book is full of silly details and colorful illustrations that will be sure to capture readers’ imaginations and make its readers laugh. From the flowerpot Minerva Louise uses as a seat, to the bed she mistakes as a meadow of flowers, to the fireplace she mistakes as the perfect nest; this book is sure to make you laugh. It is a great book for beginner readers as it has very detailed and colorful pictures that help to tell the story along with the simple sentences on each page describing the scene.
 * Book Review: **

Stoeke is an award-winning author of her “Minerva Louise” book series. She won first prize in a picture book competition for the book “Minerva Louise”. The other books that are part of the “Minerva Louise” series are “A Hat for Minerva Louise,” “Minerva Louise at School,” “A Friend for Minerva Louise,” “Minerva Louise and the Red Truck,” “Minerva Louise on Christmas Eve,” and “Minerva Louise on Halloween.” Stoeke was born in Pittsfield, MA. However, she grew up in Connecticut and was part of a very artistic family. When she was young she enjoyed painting with her siblings. She attended Colgate University where she earned a bachelor’s degree and then went on to get her masters at George Washington University. Stoeke is married to Barrett Books and has four children, and they live in Virginia near Washington, DC. She currently does presentations for all grade levels. For younger grade levels such as K-2 she will read some of the books from the series and then point out the events in her life that prompted her to write them. The she will ask the students open ended questions and have them help her to create their own story with a beginning, middle, and an end. She wants students to realize that they too can write stories. At the end students get the chance to ask any questions they may have about being or becoming an author. In her older programs with students from grades 5 and 6 she focuses on writing from personal experiences. She uses her book “Waiting For May” which is a story about her son’s anticipation of the arrival of his new baby sister. This example initiates students thinking about how they can use their own personal experiences when writing a story. Stoeke will conduct up to 3 presentations daily. Each presentation is around 45 minutes and her ideal group size is approximately 50 students. Students must be at a similar grade level, and the presentations cost $550. She currently only makes these presentations in the DC area.
 * Author Biography: **

Janet Morgan Stoeke uses a very child friendly, and humorous writing style. Her sentences are all short and simple which is perfect for beginning readers. For example “a comfortable chair,” “and friendly cows,” and “Except there’s no one here to play with”. All of these sentences are complete, but use simple words and are short so that beginning readers won’t get frustrated and can enjoy the story. This book gives students the opportunity to view a situation from a different point of view. For example a student would know that the fireplace is not a nest, but to a hen the fireplace seems like a perfectly fine place to build a nest. These humorous anecdotes add to the charm of the story. The details of the story are shown through the illustrations. Stoeke uses her illustrations to help portray the message that is being written. For example in the comfortable chair scene you see Minerva Louise sitting in a flowerpot. The pictures are what make this book so entertaining.
 * Literary Element Analysis: **


 * Related Links: **
 * http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/stoeke-janetmorgan.html