Gracie and Katie
Susanne Merritt, Author
Liz Anelli, Illustrator
EK Books, Fiction, Nov. 1, 2017
Suitable for Ages: 4-8
Themes: Twins, Art, Creativity, Sisterhood, Individuality
Opening: “Grace and Katie loved to draw. Grace’s drawings were filled with straight lines, squares and angles. Katie’s drawings were filled with patterns, squiggles and swirls.”
Publisher Synopsis: Grace and Katie are twins who love to draw. Grace loves everything to be organized and neat, while Katie loves everything to be bright, bold and messy. When they want to draw a map of their home and street, the girls can’t agree on how it should be done so they each decide to create their own map. But that doesn’t work out as well as they’d planned. Perhaps working together might be more fun after all!
Why I like this book:
Grace and Katie is an imaginative exploration of individuality, sisterhood, creativity and appreciating each other’s talents. It will win the hearts of many budding artists.
The book focuses on twins in a way that emphasizes each girl’s individual strengths. Each sister has a unique perspective on art. And they have a different ways of expressing themselves. When Katie adds colorful touches to Grace’s map, and Grace gives Katie’s map more structure, they learn that working together can be a lot more fun.
Grace and Katie encourages kids to express their creativity and realize that there is no right or wrong way to be an artist. The topic of map making is woven throughout the story, making this a valuable resource to explore visual literacy. Children will find this story a very satisfying read.
Liz Anelli’s delightful illustrations combine both heart and design. They are delightfully bold and appealing. There is such vivid detail, especially in the cityscape scenes. You can tell Anelli has a flare for architecture which blends beautifully with this empowering story of individuality.
Resources: This is a great resource to celebrate creativity at home and school. It is also a great resource to teach children about creating and reading maps.
Every Friday, authors and KidLit bloggers post a favorite picture book. To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books (PPB) with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s website.
Sounds clever, want to read it!
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It is clever. I’m glad the girls worked on their difference together.
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This sounds like a wonderful exploration of art, creativity and sisterhood. And I think it’s great that mapmaking skills are involved – too few of us use or understand maps anymore, as we rely way too often on the voice in our phone GPS.
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Yes, I agree. The mapmaking focus really showed how the girls could respect each other talents and were stronger together.
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I love books about twins. Nice to see how their differences are celebrated via their creativity. My daughter would have loved this book.
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Yes, I agree. Their creative differences were celebrated and made for an interesting ending.
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Oh, I have to say the aspect of map creating really appeals to me.
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Yes, map making is an important part of the story. And, it would make a fun exercise for kids.
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I have a friend who would love this for her twins! I’ll suggest it to her!
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Thank you for visiting! I think twins would have a great time reading this book together. Many ways to use it.
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Working together can be tricky. Sometimes one member of the pair might be too bossy. I’m not mentioning any names, but around here, there’s one family member who gets to call all the shots!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
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LOL! You have a problem, Cupcake!
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I like the sound of this book, Patricia, for exactly the reasons you gave in the “Resources” section. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you Norah! It really is important book for twins or siblings. Each is very unique!
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I think sometimes too much is made of their sameness, rather than their uniqueness.
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I agree. Opposites compliment each other.
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Thank you for such a wonderful review, Patricia. Showing that there is no one way to express yourself creatively, or even a ‘best’ way, was important to me in writing this story. I wanted Grace and Katie’s different ways of responding to their world creatively to appreciated without the need for them to copy each other or conform. And Liz’s map-based illustrations are amazing. I’m still discovering details in the illustrations each time I read the book.
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Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. It was a joy to review your book. I loved the theme for siblings. And, I loved how they discovered that working together on their map made their project even better.
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I hadn’t seen this one yet Patricia. Thanks for introducing me to it. On my library list!
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I love how Grace and Katie’s have different ways of drawing and learn that they compliment each other.
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