The Pout Pout Fish is a really cute book about a fish that thinks he has a "pouty" face because that is how he has also perceived himself. After claiming himself as a pout pout fish for so long, a new friend comes along and shows him a whole different view of himself - a much brighter, happier view.

You could use this story in a kindergarten, first or second grade classroom and have students construct a "pout pout" fish, and have a creative writing sheet that says "I am a pout pout fish when..." that they would complete. You could also do a graphic organizer that has a "kiss kiss" fish and a "pout pout" face, and under each picture would have "I feel cheery/pouty when..."

Oh! But this book was filled with humorous autobiographical stories. Kim Korson describes herself as a mostly depressing person but I'm here to tell ya, she's funny as hell. I read each new chapter with a smile on my face and laughter throughout. Funny stuff. Really.

Thanks to NetGalley for the DRC for review.

Hmm, I picked this up by chance, without knowing much about it. It is the story of a wedding party who receive a guest - a young man who still harbors feelings for the bride.

So. amidst the stress of getting the family ready for the wedding - including a couple of boisterous schoolboys - the story tries to focus on the will-they-won't-they tension between the guest and the bride...and it this question that just manages to keep the story going.

It's an easy read for a lazy afternoon but neither that cheerful or gripping.

Sorry To Be So Cheerful - Hildegarde Dol...

As a 10-year-old, I would read anything I could get my hands on. Living with my grandfather, I discovered one shelf of dusty, forgotten books in one of the bedrooms. The shelf was up near the ceiling, so I had to stand on a bed to reach it. From that shelf, I read everything from Steinbeck to Maugham to, yes, Hildegarde Dolson. As a 5-grader in San Diego, I had no context for this book of humorous essays by a young woman journalist in the 1940s. There was something about it though that I loved because I read it several times and I still remember some of the stories. One was about Duncan Phyfe chairs. I had no idea what those were. Another was about insomnia, and that one I could relate to as I already was suffering from it. The essay was a litany of ways to get to sleep, all of which only served to make Dolson more frantic. In one, you're supposed to count all the e's on a page, but Dolson got a different number each time. Of course, I'm not making it sound funny, but it was. I should pull it out and read it again, now that have have almost 40 more years of perspective behind me.