[Pet Health Admin]

Words first! That's the way Jenny's teacher says a story must begin. But Jenny loves to draw, not to write. Besides, how can she possibly concentrate on a story when her pet guinea pig, Patches, has disappeared? How Jenny finally finds her pet — and the words to her story — makes for a winning tale about the creative spirit.
Customer Review: Patches
I used this book to introduce writer's workshop and help my students see that they can write about anything!
Customer Review: Excellent for use in the classroom/LMC
Patches Lost and Found tells the story of Jenny and her pet guinea pig, Patches. Jenny, who loves to draw, is assigned to write a story for school. She's nervous about the assignment because she isn't very good at coming up with ideas for stories. When she gets home from school that day, her mother tells her that Patches has escaped from his cage and is missing. They put up posters around town and Jenny draws pictures showing all the things that might have happened to Patches. Luckily, a neighbor finds Patches, but Jenny still hasn't written her story. Later that day her Mom comes into her room and shows her that she can add words to her pictures of Patches to tell a story. I would recommend this book for ages 6 and 7. Most children in this age group will be able to identify with being nervous about an assignment for school, and they will be reassured that Jenny was able to overcome her difficulties and succeed in writing the story. There are a variety of ways this book could be shared with children in a school setting. It could be read as part of a section on writing stories, with the children later drawing pictures and then writing stories to go along with them. These stories could possibly be the children's own ideas about what could have happened to Patches. Another idea would be to teach the children about guinea pigs, possibly having a real guinea pig in the classroom, and then follow the lesson with this story. The artwork in the book was prepared digitally. Jenny looks like she could be a character in a cartoon on Nickelodeon. Children would find this very appealing. Kids would also enjoy the pictures Jenny draws of Patches because they probably look similar to pictures they would draw themselves. The artwork does a good job of telling the story, showing each picture Jenny draws along the way and then displaying Jenny's story about Patches with the pictures.


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