We have so enjoyed this book this week.  It is by Jacqueline Martin and illustrated by Brad Sneed. 

This book is another Tall Tale, which has been a fun follow-up book to The Gullywasher. 

We have talked about the terms "bend and meander".  We talked about how a bend is created in a river. 

We have talked a lot about Simon Henry.  How he isn't active in anything in the community.  He is off to himself and doesn't participate in the community potlucks.  At the beginning of the book it says, "He didn't smile one day out of seven".  I asked the children if they thought Simon Henry knew Jesus.  They all said "no" but then we talked about WHY they thought that.  After discussing a few different things (all of which were good and valid points) we decided that because he is lacking joy and when Jesus is Lord of your life you have joy.  We talked about how Potato Kelly was nice to him in a "different" way.  She approached him in a different way than she probably would have someone else but it did bring him around to being involved with the community and he did SMILE. 

Simon Henry was rather prideful in saying that he could catch anything.  Sam noted that pride is a dangerous thing (can you tell what he has dealt with)  :-)

The illustrations in this book are GREAT.  I think I say that about every FIAR book.  There are some good watercolor illustrations of the river and of the catfish, Oscar.  We talked about the cross section image and this afternoon the children are going to illustrate either a cross section image or a water scene with the scenery being reflected in the water. 

We also discussed Sneed's unusual drawing of items.  He does more of a caricature.  In a couple of pictures, Oscar, the fish, is bigger than Simon Henry.

The conclusion of the story is wonderful.  Potato Kelly and Simon Henry both kept their words (vows) to one another.  Potato Kelly promised throughout that if Simon Henry caught Oscar she would buy him new boots and a new hat.  Simon Henry promised that if he didn't catch Oscar, he would join the potluck and sing with a bullfrog and dance with his fishing pole.  Then he also added that he would eat his socks.  In the end because they kind of caught Oscar and kind of didn't, Potato Kelly bought Simon Henry the new hat, new boots and new socks.  Simon Henry came to the potluck (smiling), sang with a bullfrog, danced with his fishing pole and ate soup with his socks in it. 

Tomorrow we will have a Higgins Bend Song and Dance dinner.  This has been a great book that we have all greatly enjoyed.