Today's book:



Written by Susan Taylor Brown (susanwrites), illustrated by Mary Sullivan

Interesting . . . now that Susan Taylor Brown's Hugging the Rock is getting so much buzz, my local B&N has a huge stack of her picture book that came out much earlier this year displayed prominently on the picture book wall.

Oliver's Must-Do List is the story of a young boy, depicted as a rhinocerous, who really wants his mother to spend a little time with him. The trouble is, Mom already has a long to-do list on the fridge, and by the time she's done her list, the day is over.

Clever Oliver makes a list of his own. Clever susanwrites takes a whole page in the middle of the book to make the anxious child reader wonder "What is Mom gonna do when she sees Oliver's list?"

The answer comes in the form of a "Knock Knock" joke, one of two in the book, both of which are some of my favorite text in the book for their humor and their deeper meanings (each is a way of relaying a more meaningful message, not just a simple joke). If I had to pick a favorite illustration, however, it would be the one when Mom and Oliver are fighting "pirates", because I love the lion.

Please put Oliver's Must-Do List on your "Must-Read List." You won't regret it.