Time To Read August

Author and Illus­tra­tor Ash­ley Spires has cre­at­ed a pic­ture book about an unnamed girl and her very best friend, who hap­pens to be a dog. 

For those who are strug­gling dur­ing this time of Covid and feel­ing frus­trat­ed in your efforts to achieve your goals, this fun­ny book for young chil­dren offers a per­fect exam­ple of the rewards of per­se­ver­ance and creativity. 

The pro­tag­o­nist has a won­der­ful idea. “She is going to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! She knows just how it will look. She knows just how it will work. All she has to do is make it, and she makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!” 

But mak­ing some­thing hap­pen isn’t easy, and the girl tries and fails, repeat­ed­ly. Even­tu­al­ly, she is so mad, in fact, that she quits. Her dog con­vinces her to return to her project with renewed enthusiasm.

The sto­ry deals hon­est­ly with the feel­ings expressed, while at the same time reas­sur­ing us that it’s okay to make mis­takes. While this book is intend­ed for young­sters, the mes­sage speaks to us all, 

Hap­py Reading,

Julia Levine