Butterflies in My Stomach and Other School Hazards by Serge Bloch
Butterflies in My Stomach (and Other School Hazards)
By Serge Bloch, Illustrations by Judith Inglese
2010, Sterling Publishing
Review by Debra L Scott, 12/14/2011Do you ever think about how a child might interpret your words? Butterflies in My Stomach is a delightful look at idiomatic expressions, and how a child might take them literally. It is the first day of school, and the boy has actual butterflies inside his stomach, pictures going to school inside a pickle with wheels (“we’d be in a real pickle if we missed the bus”). Then, of course, it rains ‘cats and dogs’ and he opens ‘a can of worms’. The whole story is fun to read, with the pen and ink illustrations showing the literal meaning of the phrase.
By Serge Bloch, Illustrations by Judith Inglese
2010, Sterling Publishing
Review by Debra L Scott, 12/14/2011Do you ever think about how a child might interpret your words? Butterflies in My Stomach is a delightful look at idiomatic expressions, and how a child might take them literally. It is the first day of school, and the boy has actual butterflies inside his stomach, pictures going to school inside a pickle with wheels (“we’d be in a real pickle if we missed the bus”). Then, of course, it rains ‘cats and dogs’ and he opens ‘a can of worms’. The whole story is fun to read, with the pen and ink illustrations showing the literal meaning of the phrase.
What a great way to help a kid laugh away the jitters of the first day of school! Also a good way to help a child look at the way words can mean something very different than the usual meanings, depending on how they are used, and for children who speak a different language at home, and may not be familiar with common idioms. Good scholastically as an early introduction to creative language, idioms and linguistics.
Word Seeds 