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Friday, April 10, 2015

Perfect PB Friday: Maddi's Fridge

Happy Windy Perfect Picture Book Friday!

Title: Maddi's Fridge
by Lois Brandt
Flashlight Press, 2014 
Themes: hunger, friends, sharing

Story Summary
Sofia and Maddi live in the same neighborhood, play in the same park, and both have pesky little brothers. But while Sofia's fridge at home is full of milk and eggs and tortillas and cheese and lettuce and jam and even half a can of dog food, Maddi's fridge is empty -with just a small container of milk for her brother, Ryan.

“Why doesn’t your mom go the grocery store?” Sofia asked.
“We don’t have any money.”
“What if you get hungry?”
“We have some bread,” Maddi said.

Sofia promises Maddi she won't tell, but she wants to help. Sofia sneaks food for Maddi in her backpack. Even though fish and eggs are good for people, they aren't very good for backpacks. Despite Sofia's very best efforts, Maddi's fridge is still empty.

All the while, normal life goes on. Each day at the park, Maddi encourages Sofia to climb a wall. It wasn't until Maddi offers a hand to Sofia that Sofia could make it successfully to the top of the climbing wall. A lesson in "friends helping friends."

Then, one day, Sofia breaks down, telling her mom about Maddi. The mama is quick to bring groceries to Maddi's family. At first Maddi is a little mad at Sofia, but quickly forgives her after they talk about the importance of friends helping out friends.


I love this book's gently shared lesson of Friends helping Friends. 
Also it encourages kids to tell an adult when their friend is in trouble, even if it means breaking a promise

Resources: Activities for Home and Classroom
Let's Help Our Friends Who Have Empty Refrigerators!
Friends Helping Friends
Fun Maze
Decorate Maddi’s Fridge
http://media.wix.com/ugd/86b64c_088e46f41a4e44dca83e6a085a1251d4.pdf

Visit Susanna Leonard Hill's blog for a complete list of today's Perfect Picture Books: http://susannahill.blogspot.com/2015/04/perfect-picture-book-friday-high.html


17 comments:

  1. I loved this one, too and reviewed it last year. Can never have too much good press for a great book!

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    1. Wendy, I didn't mean to repeat. This book was new to me and I agree that it deserves lots of good press.

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  2. This is a great story about friendship and caring. There are many kids who are in this situation due to a variety of reasons.

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    1. I believe books like this one will make our society more aware of the problem.

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  3. This looks like a sweet book... friendship plus more.

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  4. I interviewed Vin on my blog a couple of month's back and he told me to check out this book, which i did then. I love the text and art to this.

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    1. Great! If you have a minute, please leave me the link to your interview. I would like to read it.

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  5. Nicely handled important topic, and the art adds so well to that.

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  6. Such a fabulous book - powerful enough to change the world :) Love books like that!

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    1. Books do have the power to make people aware.

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  7. This sounds like such a sweet book, Friends helping friends. Thanks for your selection. :)

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  8. This is certainly a lovely choice. Love the theme of friends helping friends. Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Even my teenagers were hooked by the title. :)

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  9. Hi Manju, thank you for the nice review! I wanted to mention one additional resource. The University of Missouri has created a print-your-own Maddi's Fridge board game that may be helpful in classrooms. Here's the link: http://missourifamilies.org/booksbites/MaddisFridge.htm

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