Gooney Bird Greene and the book of the week

It caught my eye in the bookstore. The cover was alluring, a pigtailed red head with a polka dot shirt and a tutu. The title splayed across her shoulders and the author and her accolades on top. It wasn't until I picked it up that I realized that it was by Lois Lowry an author of my childhood. It wasn't until yesterday that I probably picked up the book because the girl on the cover resembled the some unconscious archetype ala Pippi Longstocking. Either way, it was a good read. An 88 page chapter book about telling stories. The book portrays Gooney Bird Greene as she has just moved to a new city, she tells fantastical stories that turn out, with misleading titles, to be absolutely true. She teachers her classmates how to tell a good story and soon they all begin to dress like her and tell great stories. The book serves as a perfect offshoot for lesson planning on writing stories and is enjoyable for even the adult leading the class, or bedtime story.