on judging a book by its cover

Take a look at this book.  It’s called

No, I’m not going to open it yet.  Instead, you tell me, what you see on the cover.  Then we will see if we can guess what the book might be about.

Tanisha starts us off.  ‘I see the author and illustrator’.  Goodness – such grown-up words from someone so small!  Can you tell us what they mean?  And of course she can.  She confirms that the author writes the words and the illustrator draws the pictures.

‘I can see a boy eating noodles with chopsticks…..’ begins Emily.

‘But it’s paintbrushes!’ interjects Nicholas.  And if you look closer…..

yes, he’s right!  How odd!

‘I think it’s about making food.’  This from Melchior.

‘Or painting,’ says Tanisha.

Certainly food for thought.

And now another question.  Where do you think the story takes place?

A flurry of ideas follows, and the consensus seems to be that it takes place in a school – we see paintbrushes, children, paintings on the wall.

OK.  Now let’s think about the title.  Remember?

c l e v e r-s t i c k s

That’s a strange word, isn’t it.  Can you say it?

c l e v e r-s t i c k s

‘Maybe they are going to learn clever things,’ offers Melchior.  With sticks perhaps?

‘We learn in school,’ says Bianca.

Indeed.  We learn to do lots of clever things in school.

And now, I think it’s about time we found out, don’t you?  Are you sitting comfortably?