Book Talk Tuesday: Bigger Than A Bread Box

Linking up with Lemme Library for Book Talk Tuesday

picture from Amazon

This weekend I read Bigger Than A Bread Box by Laurel Snyder.  I'm a bit late to the party of teachers and librarians who have been celebrating this book since its release at the end of September 2011.  I read this book because I had heard so many good things about it on Twitter and had heard the whispering about "possible Newbery winner".  (It didn't win...and wasn't recognized, but that doesn't make it any less of a GREAT book!)


As I began this book, I thought it might be unbearably sad because of the situation of the main character, Rebecca, being forced to leave home with her mother and little brother, Lew, and leaving her father.  Yes, it was sad, but not to the point that I bawled my eyes out.


Laurel Snyder seems to really get it:  how children feel when their parents fight, the pressures of being a new student at school and trying to fit in, and the horrible feeling when your parents aren't together and may not ever be.  Many students will identify with the emotions this book brings to the forefront.


But then there's the magic...and the wishes...all from a bread box.  It takes a realistic story and gives it a welcome and hopeful twist.  


Show your students this amazing book trailer created by a 12 year old and be prepared for this book to stay checked out.  Word of mouth after one student reads it will spread the love for sure.