Help Wanted: Must Love Books written by Janet Sumner Johnson and illustrated by Courtney Dawson is clever, funny and built around fairytale characters in disguise. Little Shailey loves story time when her father reads to her until she falls asleep. But, when he takes a new job, she cannot pry him away from his computer and cell phone. Each night he works right through “their” story time.
She takes the matter in hand, fires her father and posts a help wanted notice for a storyteller. The response includes three pigs, with a wolf lurking in the background and seven dwarfs! She sends them all packing and posts another help wanted sign that also says, “individual applicants only.” This sign draws such would be storytellers as the gingerbread boy, who runs away with a book, and a giant! The next morning the sign reads “human applicants only” and Sleeping Beauty, Goldilocks and Cinderella show up.
Shailey has no idea as to the identity of any of the applicants but the reader will delight in figuring it out from both the story’s words, the characters’ actions and the colorful illustrations.
Then, Robin Hood comes to the door. He looks and sounds very much like her father and indeed it is her father… just in time for a story!
Help Wanted: Must Love Books written by Janet Sumner Johnson and illustrated by Courtney Dawson is a happy little tale that will tickle and treat readers 4-7 years of age (Capstone Editions, a Capstone Imprint, 2020).
Activity Questions for HELP WANTED: MUST LOVE BOOKS
Look at the illustration of the first applicants answering Shailey’s call for a storyteller. Can you identify each character? Now turn to the next page. What has been added to the pictures that help you identify the characters: Who is standing behind the pigs? What is the name of the fairytale in which they all appear? Name the seven little men in the next picture. Why are they all so upset by the apple? Who is the girl with a book? What is the name of the fairytale in which they all appear? Go forward in the illustrations and identify the boy who runs away with a book and the giant who scares Shailey. By studying the illustrations can you find Sleeping Beauty and Goldilocks?
Four other applications for the job of storyteller can be found at the very back of the book. Read them all as they are delightful. Now select one of the four applicants to draw a picture of using the information included in the application.
Have you had a storyteller who read to you each night? If so, send your storyteller a thank you note. Be sure to tell your storyteller how their storytelling made you feel.
