Genre
Humorous stories
Picture books for children
Stories in rhyme
Tone
Feel-good
Illustration
Cartoony
Subject
Girls
Protectiveness
Soils
Toddlers
Trees
Worms

A little girl is strangely tantalized by the dirt and mud. She plays in it and even eats it and one day - she grows roots and becomes a plant. People try to profit from her strange predicament, but her parents know how to protect her. ( )

A funny picture book about a girl who loves dirt. Gert loves to play in the dirt, eat dirt, and eventually she begins to sprout in the dirt. The worms think she is amazing but not everyone thinks she should be spending so much time in the dirt. Her parents, however, love Gert for who she is and instead of trying to change her, they embrace her and know just how to nurture her and help her grow. A great book about accepting people for who they are. ( )

I liked this book for two reasons. First, the language had a rhyming pattern. Rhyming not only makes a book fun but also can help struggling or beginning readers determine and read words. In addition, rhyming is a needed phonological awareness skill for children. One example of rhyming in the story is, “Little Gert loved eating dirt.” Second, the text pushed readers to broaden their vocabulary with some advanced words. For example, “photosynthesized” was a word used. This is a long and hard to pronounce word for an early reader. However, this word, along with many others could open the door to some great lessons. The big idea of the story is that your parents always know what’s best for you. Gert’s parents knew what was best for her by letting her play in the dirt and then to get the attention off of her. ( )

Originally I chose this story because I remember growing up and playing in the dirt until the street lights came on but it turned out to be much deeper than I anticipated. What I loved most about this book was the language used. Each page the sentences rhymed and used words like: energize, civilize, and tantalize, sanitizer among many others. I had never come across a children’s book that used such words in way that was so easy to understand. The illustrations helped to add context clues and were very bright as well as detailed. In the story the young girl, Gert, happens to eat a bunch of dirt and by effect she turns into a plant. The sight of something so out of sorts to society was shocking and she becomes a huge spectacle. Her family eventually digs her up and plants her in a pot so she can be inside with her family and be loved. This story touches on how society sees those who are different and how we ostracize on them. At one point in the story Gert made top news about how weird she was the writer mentioned that she had become traumatized by all the rucks and she began to wilt. Much like when a community doesn’t include somebody who is recognizably different, they in turn become detected from the world. All in the entire story returns to the family and notes that they will always be there for you and will watch out for you. ( )