Stella Louella's Runaway Book

by Lisa Campbell Ernst, Lisa Campbell Ernst (Illustrator)

Overview

Join Stella Louella as she races through the streets of her town to find and return her missing library book before the due date.

Studious Stella Louella is frantically trying to find her missing library book, so she can return it before the due date passes.

Looking every place she can imagine, Stella ends up visiting everyone in town, from the people at the fix-it shop, the diner, the police station, the scouts, and each neighbor in between.

“From the start of this cheerful cumulative tale, Ernst gives youngsters crowded spreads chock-a-block with amusing particulars.” – Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689844607
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	09/01/2001
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lisa Campbell Ernst has written and illustrated many popular children's books, including The Turn-Around, Upside-Down Alphabet Book; Hannah Mae O'Hannigan's Wild West Show; Goldilocks Returns, her own version of "Little Red Riding Hood"; and Stella Louella's Runaway Book. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, Lee, and their two daughters, Elizabeth and Allison.

Lisa Campbell Ernst has written and illustrated many popular children's books, including The Turn-Around, Upside-Down Alphabet Book; Hannah Mae O'Hannigan's Wild West Show; Goldilocks Returns, her own version of "Little Red Riding Hood"; and Stella Louella's Runaway Book. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, Lee, and their two daughters, Elizabeth and Allison.

Editorial Reviews

This cumulative tale from Ernst (Duke the Dairy Delight Dog, 1996, etc.) features Stella, who is all in a dither because she has misplaced her library book. Her father starts the ball rolling when he asks, "Think. Where did you have it last?" The hammock, hoots Stella, but when she and her father get there they learn that Stella's brother has left the book on the front porch. The three of them rush to the porch only to find that the mailman gave the book to a girl down the street. The four of them, and all the rest who join them, go on a merry chase around town; Stella gets increasingly frantic, and the crowd grows arithmetically. The book is finally located and Stella's name is still good with Mrs. Graham, the librarian (Stella's fear of her may be the only overworked element in the story). Treasure hunts are always fun, and this one is made all the more so by the hints that are dropped about the book's identity. Everyone who reads it likes it, for humorously self-serving reasons, e.g., the diner owner likes the bit about porridge, the fix-it woman likes the part about the broken chair, the new mother likes the notion of a nap. As usual, Ernst's big, comic illustrations stage the action beautifully, advancing the text and supplying plenty of funny details to pore over. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews