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Friday, November 20, 2009

The Jamie and Angus Stories, written by Anne Fine and illustrated by Penny Dale. Candlewick, Random House. $22.99 ages 4 and up



"On Christmas morning Jamie opened his present and he and Angus were together properly for the first time. Angus adored his spacious greeny-brown fields. He felt proud and confident behind his fine painted hedges. He admired his pond. And he was very, very happy in his stall. And Jamie was happy, too. He'd waited so long to bury his face in that magnificent silky coat, as smooth as bath water and white as snow."

I hope you are able to find this lovely book for it is a perfect readaloud in early years classrooms or for starting a chapter book tradition in your family. When Jamie first sees Angus sitting in a shop window, he knows he has to have him. There is nothing he wants more. He convinces his Mom that Angus is all he wants for Christmas and it is not too early to buy him, although Christmas is many months away. As he waits for the magic day when they will be together, Jamie prepares diligently for Angus’ arrival. Destined to be inseparable, the two finally connect and so begins their story. In six ‘fine’ chapters, we share the love of family. Gentle, simple, appealing and heartwarming…what more can we ask?

This award-winning book is the first of two that I have read recently and I will share the other with you in the next post. Anne Fine is such a consistently wonderful writer for all readers. I hope that you will check to see the other titles on her extensive and varied list. You might want to look at her website at http://www.annefine.co.uk.

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