Would someone please tell me how it got to be Friday?
Seriously! Where did this week go? I am still somewhere back around midday Monday…
But since the rest of the world seems to agree that it’s Friday, let’s have a Perfect Picture Book, shall we?
Title: Mathilda And The Orange Balloon
Written By: Randall de Seve
Illustrated By: Jen Corace
Balzer & Bray, Feb. 2010, Fiction
Suitable For Ages: 3-7
Themes/Topics: imagination, be yourself/individuality
Opening: “Mathilda’s world was small. Here’s what was in it: Green grass. Green barn. Gray skies. Gray stones. Gray sheep.”
Brief Synopsis: Mathilda lives in a small, familiar world, which is all very nice, until one day she spies an orange balloon. She is captivated, and she believes that she can be an orange balloon too!
Links To Resources: Preschool lesson plan for the color orange; learning activities for the color orange; preschool lesson plan for sheep; pair this book with other sheep books like Sheep In A Jeep by Nancy Shaw and discuss how the sheep in the books are alike and different; pair this book with other imagination books like Harold And The Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson and discuss how Mathilda uses her imagination compared to how Harold uses his.
Why I Like This Book: This book is just darling! Mathilda is so delightful, so cheerful, so optimistic and imaginative and determined. “What is a balloon?” she asks, and when the others answer that it is round and it flies, Mathilda (who is a gray sheep) shows them that she too is round and can fly. “What is orange?” she asks, and when the others answer that it is fierce like a tiger, warm like wool, and happy, she shows them that she is all those things too. The art and the text are simple and sweet, and the message that you can be anything you want if you believe in yourself is one that is near and dear to my heart (since it is the same message that Punxsutawney Phyllis has :)) And I just have to share my favorite line from the story when Mathilda first catches sight of the orange balloon: “Mathilda had never seen anything so magnificent.” 🙂
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
PPBF bloggers, please be sure to leave your post-specific links in the list below so we can all come visit you and enjoy your selections for this week! And please remember there will be no PPBF for the next two weeks because of the March Madness Writing Contest – so no PPBF March 21 or 28!!!
Have a great weekend, everyone! I guess we will all be working on writing our fairy tales… wink wink nudge nudge… right??? 🙂 (For March Madness Writing Contest guidelines go HERE.)
Oh and P.S. Be sure to stop by Monday for a guest post on a very interesting topic! (At least I think it’s interesting! :))
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Love the theme of possibility and imagination! Have it on my book list to borrow from the library on my next trip there!
Beautiful story, Susanna. Love the imagination, the belief you can be anything you want to be with a little imagination. Have a wonderful weekend. We are batching down our hatches as Cyclone Lusi comes down. Tomorrow should see the worst passing over us. Nice day to stay snuggled up in bed with a good book, yes? 😉
Yes, indeed! But oh please do stay safe! That sounds so scary! Hope you have a cozy weekend and the cyclone doesn't touch you or your friends and loved ones!
I hope you enjoy it, Emily. It's very short and sweet. I didn't actually count the words, but I'd guess there are well under 200!
Another cute, complicated, yet simple book under two hundred words! Terrific! Can't wait to read it. It's on my list for my usual Saturday library run. Thanks, Susanna! 🙂
I have never come across this one, it sounds adorable. There are always new and wonderful ways to tell a story about this simple message, right?
This sounds lovely, Susanna! I've really enjoyed working on a fractured fairy Tale.
Oh to have the imagination of a preschooler! I'll bet this is a nice way to jump-start a conversation about what is and what isn't possible when you imagine. 🙂
I hope your weekend won't fly by as fast as your week did!
I'm glad you're having fun, Catherine! I wish I had an IDEA!!! 🙂
So true 🙂 And this one is very simple and sweet.
I hope you like it, Clar. I especially like Mathilda's sweet happy face 🙂
Yes, talking about what's possible with imagination is a great idea! i should add that in 🙂 My big hope for the weekend is that I'll get a brilliant idea for my story sample… so far it's not lokkin' good! Have a great weekend, T 🙂
Oh. I'm wondering how I missed this balloon book when I checked out 20 books last year. We'll see if I can find it at the library with the title. I look forward to the entries. I was so overwhelmed at Christmas i didn't make it to all of them. 😦 So, maybe I'll be able to do that this time. This book reminds me of a penguin book we found late last year A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis. It focuses on three colors white ice, black night, and blue sea. But, one penguin knows there must be more in the world and discovers some orange. Looking forward to catching up with all my PPBF-I didn't make it through the list last week and my library hold list is showing it. Only 10 books on hold at the moment.
This book sounds lovely and I love the contrast of the color orange on the cover. It really draws the eyes right to it and already tugs at the imagination. The story sounds adorable. Will definitely be on the look out for this one. Happy TGIF everyone!
I read this book (and reviewed it a while back for San Francisco Book Review). I thought it was utterly charming. I like how you've linked the book to lesson plans.
It's HARD to keep up with everything, Stacy! And you have a toddler! I don't expect as many entries for this contest – the holiday contest was a fluke. And I will have to check out A Penguin Story – it sounds cute 🙂
Hi Elizabeth – so glad you stopped by! And I'm glad you also like this book 🙂 The lesson plans/resources is what we do here at PPBF – the idea being to make life a little easier for parents, teachers, and homeschoolers and also encourage people to make use of all the amazing picture books out there!
It's very simple and sweet, Karen. I can't resist Mathilda's cute, happy face 🙂 And that orange is so cheerful 🙂 Happy TGIF to you too!
Oh- oh….Grrrr….sorry Susanna – when I tried submitting my link everything froze on my end. I waited – but not long enough apparently. I submitted and lo- and behold….I submitted 2x…..hanging head….shame on me.
Anyway – your book sounds delightful. And since my initials are LAM I love sheep books – just like you. will have to seek this out.
Love your book choice. It was a spontaneous library selection last year and your review makes me want to get it out and read it again. Utterly charming!
This cover made me smile and I love the voice the author used. Thanks for another great Pick.
I hear you, Susanna. How did it get to be mid-March already? 🙂
Such a sweet book! I love Matilda's imagination. Fun choice for young kids who are so open.
Is it me, but the links disappeared. I had answered the first 12 and clicked back to refresh and bring up added links, and they don't show. I'm looking at your blog and it ends with you review and a reminder of the contest.
Time is flying fast, quite possibly like that orange balloon Mathilda adores 🙂
I like the sound of this book. Sharing the idea of fun with imagination and believing in oneself is good for little ones and us bigger kids-at-heart as well.
Very clever, Angela – time flying like Mathilda's balloon 🙂 And I agree – it's a message we can all stand to take to heart 🙂
Hmm…. I'm not sure… I see 16 links… I'll refresh and see if they're still there…
It is a fun one, Pat – simple and sweet 🙂
I have NO idea, Cheryl! I need to back up a few weeks and catch up!
Isn't that cover delightful, Joanne? With Mathilda's cheery little face and that bright orange balloon? I think it feels like spring… but that might just be me with spring on the brain 🙂
It's a cutie, isn't it, Laura? 🙂
No worries, Laura! I can fix it 🙂 And I like the way you think about sheep 🙂
Of course you'd pick a sheep book! (It does look adorable, though.)
But now I'm gonna have to run off to Google to see if sheep can see colors.
I'm still seeing all the links, Pat, except the extra one that was posted twice that I just deleted, so now there are 15. Can you see them now?
I confess it. I do have a soft spot for sheep 🙂 But don't go getting all technical, Mike. This is a book about imagination! Even if sheep can't actually see colors, I know Mathilda can! 🙂
We had a flock of sheep! I loved to watch the lambs play king of the hill. Great springtime choice for a book. Maybe pair it with Mem Fox's Green Sheep??
Oh, yes! What a great idea! Pair Green Sheep with Mathilda the orange balloon 🙂
I hope my library has this! Would have named my son Mathilda – if!
I hope you like it 🙂 My brother would have been named Edith if, so he got a way better deal being a boy 🙂
The cover art is adorable and the story sounds like it is as well. Thanks for the review.
Being a balloon is not that difficult, really. After a winter like this, I'm well on my way…. Ugh.
Hahahahaha, Genevieve! You re so funny! But you and me both! 🙂
Glad you like it, Rosi! I think she's so cute 🙂
Hi Susanna. I submitted my link yesterday before lunch, around 11am, but it's not on the list. I remember getting the green box that says it has been accepted. Should I resubmit?
For anyone interested, I reviewed Sweet Dream Pie, by Audrey Wood and Mark Teague for National Pi Day. Thanks, have a great weekend.
http://bookish-ambition.blogspot.com/2014/03/ppbf-sweet-dream-pie.html
That is very weird! I never saw it at all! I'm so sorry – technology can be so confounding sometimes. Anyway, I added your link just now and I can see it at #18, so hopefully everyone else can too!
Mathilda is just precious. She's making me long for spring.
It's coming, Kirsten! It has to be coming! Maybe Mathilda will bring it with her orange balloon 🙂
What a cute, cute book! I'll have to sniff this one out. I need more sheep books on my shelf.
This is a cute one, Rhythm, with just the right amount of text for little readers who don't want to sit still for too long 🙂
This book sounds extremely cute! 😀 Working on my entry now! 😀