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3rd out of 25 books
—
5 voters
Rocket Writes a Story (Rocket and the Little Yellow Bird)
by
Tad Hills
The #1 New York Times Bestseller
This irresistible sequel to the New York Times bestselling How Rocket Learned to Read is "a perfect choice to inspire new readers and writers," according to a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.
Rocket loves books and he wants to make his own, but he can't think of a story. Encouraged by the little yellow bird to look closely at the world aro...more
This irresistible sequel to the New York Times bestselling How Rocket Learned to Read is "a perfect choice to inspire new readers and writers," according to a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.
Rocket loves books and he wants to make his own, but he can't think of a story. Encouraged by the little yellow bird to look closely at the world aro...more
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published
July 24th 2012
by Schwartz & Wade
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I'm baffled by the high reviews for this book. It's the time-tested story of a puppy learning to write. I just didn't get it. Much like Marc Brown's Arthur books, I have no idea why the characters in this story need to be animals. It's token fantasy displacement with the only effect being to make the characters seem more cute. But a good illustrator knows how to make children cute, so why do we need it to be a puppy and Tweety Bird?
When I displace into an animal my identifying with the main cha...more
When I displace into an animal my identifying with the main cha...more
In Rocket Writes a Story, Rocket loves to read and to find new words. When his teacher, little yellow bird, asks him what he's going to do with all the words he's collected, Rocket decides that he'll write a story. When Rocket gets stuck, his teacher helps him, and then Rocket learns how to write through his stuckness. When Rocket decides to write about an owl he passes, he gains a new friend.
Hill gives many hints in this book on how to write--from needing good characters, to writing about somet...more
Hill gives many hints in this book on how to write--from needing good characters, to writing about somet...more
1. Rating: 5
2. A book review from Publisher's Weekly says, "In a natural follow-up to How Rocket Learned to Read (2010), the black-and-white puppy with a 1950s crew cut and an irrepressible desire to learn adds writing to his skills. Rocket literally sniffs out new words that he and his teacher, the yellow bird from the first book, display on notes on the branches of a word tree (a project tailor-made for teachers looking for their next bulletin board), and the dog struggles to find a topic, cre...more
2. A book review from Publisher's Weekly says, "In a natural follow-up to How Rocket Learned to Read (2010), the black-and-white puppy with a 1950s crew cut and an irrepressible desire to learn adds writing to his skills. Rocket literally sniffs out new words that he and his teacher, the yellow bird from the first book, display on notes on the branches of a word tree (a project tailor-made for teachers looking for their next bulletin board), and the dog struggles to find a topic, cre...more
In this sequel to How Rocket Learned to Read Rocket is excited to try to write his own story. But it is easier said than done. He tries over and over again to figure out just what to say. He starts to write down good words that might be helpful on cards with pictures of the word on it. Eventually he finds some inspiration for a story. He doesn't know how the story will end, but he decides to start writing.
This is an enjoyable companion to the first book. I liked it, but didn't love it as much....more
This is an enjoyable companion to the first book. I liked it, but didn't love it as much....more
From the creator of the New York Times bestseller, How Rocket Learned to Read, comes another book featuring Rocket and his teacher the little yellow bird.
In his inspiring book, Rocket is expanding on his reading skills and writes the words he sniffs out to describe the world around him. Every day the little yellow bird hangs Rockets words in a tree, until one day the tree is full of words. With all of the new words, Rocket decides he wants to write a story, but he has no idea what to write abou...more
In his inspiring book, Rocket is expanding on his reading skills and writes the words he sniffs out to describe the world around him. Every day the little yellow bird hangs Rockets words in a tree, until one day the tree is full of words. With all of the new words, Rocket decides he wants to write a story, but he has no idea what to write abou...more
Aug 09, 2012
Alison
added it
Yay for Rocket!!
We adore Rocket in our house. The 7 year old was a reluctant reader in his pre-school years. Two years ago, when Tad Hills first published How Rocket Learned To Read, I was encouraging my little guy to read and it was the PERFECT book at the perfect time.
Well, Tad Hills has done it again, and Rocket is growing with his audience. The son who was just learning to read two years ago, has picked up a pencil and is starting to write stories...just like Rocket!
We had the opportunity t...more
We adore Rocket in our house. The 7 year old was a reluctant reader in his pre-school years. Two years ago, when Tad Hills first published How Rocket Learned To Read, I was encouraging my little guy to read and it was the PERFECT book at the perfect time.
Well, Tad Hills has done it again, and Rocket is growing with his audience. The son who was just learning to read two years ago, has picked up a pencil and is starting to write stories...just like Rocket!
We had the opportunity t...more
Summary:
Rocket is a dog that loves to read. He loves words so much that he even has a little yellow bird friend who helps him make a word tree. He decides to write a story, but cannot think of anything. He looks everywhere for inspiration and eventually meets an owl that helps to inspire him. The owl is shy, but everyday Rocket reads more of his story to the owl, the owl comes farther down the tree. When Rocket finally finishes his story, the owl has come all the way down the tree and tells Rock...more
Rocket is a dog that loves to read. He loves words so much that he even has a little yellow bird friend who helps him make a word tree. He decides to write a story, but cannot think of anything. He looks everywhere for inspiration and eventually meets an owl that helps to inspire him. The owl is shy, but everyday Rocket reads more of his story to the owl, the owl comes farther down the tree. When Rocket finally finishes his story, the owl has come all the way down the tree and tells Rock...more
Summary: In "Rocket Writes a Story," Tad Hill introduces young readers to the first step of the writing process: planning. Rocket is an adorable dog who wishes to write a story, but cannot think of any ideas! His teacher who is a little bird encourages Rocket to look around his environment for some inspiration, and comes up with a "word tree" to help Rocket get started. Rocket finds many things around him to add to the "word-tree" including the words grass, log, and cloud, but he still cannot th...more
Nov 27, 2012
Barbara
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
animals,
friendship,
literacy,
ncbla2013,
picture-book,
reading,
read-aloud,
teachers,
word-lovers,
writing
Ah, what a delight it was to read a picture book combining so many of the things that bring me joy! Rocket, a black and white dog, loves to read, but like many budding writers, he also enjoys collecting words. But a collection of words, while interesting to look at or say, is just a collection without being used in a story. With encouragement from his teacher, a yellow bird, Rocket decides to write his own story. From then on, he faces writer's block, looks for inspiration, and meets a new frien...more
Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills, is an adorable sequel to How Rocket Learned to Read. In this, we find Rocket, a dog, and his desire to write a story of his own. With the help from the little yellow bird, rocket starts placing words on his word tree. Eventually he uses these to write a story of his very own!
This would be wonderful for kids in pre-school through first grade when looking at the pictures, but the writing process could be useful for first through third graders, too.
This book, gi...more
This would be wonderful for kids in pre-school through first grade when looking at the pictures, but the writing process could be useful for first through third graders, too.
This book, gi...more
Tad Hillsclearly takes his task as creator of a children's book seriously. He wrote the book description in the cataloging information which reveals that this book is a sequel to How Rocket Learned to Readwhich I adored. Although I am not an animal person (having only had a dog for a few years as a child and while raising 3 sons felt that a dog wasn't going to be part of the picture) I, nonetheless, love a cute dog in children's books. And so does my oldest son who saw this book while on vacatio...more
Rocket Writes a Story is an adorable story about a dog that is inspired to write a story with the help of his teacher, yellow bird. We already know Rocket loves to read but now he wants to collect new words for his word tree so that he can write an inspiring story. But, he has a little trouble figuring out what he wants to write about until one day he meets an owl. Now that Rocket knows what to write about he begins to go through the emotions of writing and figuring things out ‘til the end with...more
What a great followup to How Rocket Learned to Read! Rocket the clever dog and his teacher yellow bird welcome a new friend to the group, Owl. But it didn't start out that way. With all of the new words that Rocket learned in the first book, he decided that he wanted to write a story to string them all together. Of course, writer's block ensued, until the little yellow bird encourages Rocket to write about something the inspires and excites him. Inspiration came in the form of some pine needles,...more
Rocket is back! Inspired by his teacher, the little yellow bird, Rocket has been spending lots of time reading. He just loves books--he loves their words and the way they smell, not to mention all their good stories. Now, Rocket has decided to write a story of his own using some of the favorite words he and the Bird have collected and placed on a tree. But as he faces the sheet of paper in front of him, he draws a blank--what to write about? With prompts from the little yellow bird (what have yo...more
Awesome story! This cute little puppy with his adorable friend and teacher the bird loved finding words, words from all around where they lived. Soon they had so many words that Rocket the puppy wanted to write a story. With inspiration from a pine tree and an owl, the help of his teacher and friend the little bird; the puppy was soon writing his story and made a new friend.
Lesson: The teacher could create several lessons on language and literature with the vocabulary from the story. The teacher...more
Lesson: The teacher could create several lessons on language and literature with the vocabulary from the story. The teacher...more
Story building can be such a difficult task for some children but author Tad Hills introduces it in a fun way that children will understand. Adorable Rocket is guided by his teacher little yellow bird through the process of building his story. To first build his story, Rocket begins by labeling the things he sees in his environment, a tree, flower etc. each is written onto pieces of paper and hung on the tree. Slowly, Rocket begins to take what was just words and puts them together into a beauti...more
Now that Rocket the dog has learned to read, he wants to write. ( do t we all? ) the little yellow bird who has been his teacher encourages him to sniff out new words. More difficult than the simple ones he has been used to so far.so he and the bird write each word on a slip of paper and hang it on their word tree. As he looked at the tree one day he decides to write a story. What will Rocket write about? How will he get his inspiration? This is a wonderful story to show children that process. W...more
In How Rocket Learned to Read, a sweet and playful puppy named Rocket learned the joy of reading. Now in Rocket Writes a Story, Rocket tries to put together all his favorite words to make a story. But what to write about? There are so many great topics, however will Rocket settle on just one? With the help of a special new friend and his teacher, Rocket learns to write his story and share his joy of reading with others.
I love Rocket. I remember reading How Rocket Learned to Read for the first t...more
I love Rocket. I remember reading How Rocket Learned to Read for the first t...more
In How Rocket Learned to Read, a sweet and shy puppy named Rocket learned the joy of reading. Now in Rocket Writes a Story, Rocket tries to put together all his favorite words to make a story. But what to write about? There are so many great topics, however will Rocket settle on just one? With the help of a special new friend and his teacher, Rocket learns to write his story and share his joy of reading with others.
I love Rocket. I remember reading How Rocket Learned to Read for the first time...more
I love Rocket. I remember reading How Rocket Learned to Read for the first time...more
This is a very cute follow up story to the 2013 Monarch nominee "How Rocket Learned to Read". In this story, Rocket is learning to write. First he learns to spell and write words, and then his "teacher" (the little yellow bird) challenges him to write a story. But what should Rocket write about? His teacher reminds him to write about something he's seen, or something that excites him, and of course, remember to add good characters!
An inspiring story about writing that may just get little ones e...more
An inspiring story about writing that may just get little ones e...more
Even better than How Rocket Learned to Read. As Rocket is getting more comfortable with his reading, his teacher encourages him to search out new words. But what to do with all these words? Put them all together in a story about something that inspires him! Along the way, Rocket learns some hard truths about writing (it doesn't always come easily), but discovers what he really is passionate about and makes a friend in the process. Lovely story that will get 1st and 2nd graders thinking about the...more
Rocket makes writing a story seem really boring. If there has been just a touch of conflict, then this could have been saved. In the previous books, Rocket's reluctance to go the Little Yellow Bird's school gave him some personality, and so when he was physically running and digging and discovering how to read, it was a sweet triumph.
In this book, Rocket's voice has been mashed up with the L.Y.Birds, which was disappointing. And the text was longer. If Rocket has run around and interacted with...more
In this book, Rocket's voice has been mashed up with the L.Y.Birds, which was disappointing. And the text was longer. If Rocket has run around and interacted with...more
gr. 1-3
A charming picture book that goes step-by-step through the writing process, without being too didactic. By the end of the story, the reader feels a connection with Rocket (the main character) that wouldn't necessarily happen in straight non-fiction. Rocket doesn't have a visible mouth for expression, and I think the illustrations would benefit from this. That being said, the eyes and postures of the characters express emotion. This would be a fun book to share with kids. Neat idea to crea...more
A charming picture book that goes step-by-step through the writing process, without being too didactic. By the end of the story, the reader feels a connection with Rocket (the main character) that wouldn't necessarily happen in straight non-fiction. Rocket doesn't have a visible mouth for expression, and I think the illustrations would benefit from this. That being said, the eyes and postures of the characters express emotion. This would be a fun book to share with kids. Neat idea to crea...more
In this story, Rocket learns how to write words and then collects his ideas to compose a story. The little yellow bird is back as a teacher and guide. I loved that Rocket shared his story with the owl at the end of the story.
The story is a bit long and is more complex than the first Rocket learns to Read. While this is another good instructional book for students, I found it a bit less fun and interesting.
Recommended for kids starting to compose their own stories. Most appropriate for students i...more
The story is a bit long and is more complex than the first Rocket learns to Read. While this is another good instructional book for students, I found it a bit less fun and interesting.
Recommended for kids starting to compose their own stories. Most appropriate for students i...more
This book is an absolute great book for the classroom. In this second book, Rocket adds writing to his skills that he can do. He sniffs out topics and words that can help him to write his story. this book would be a great book to read to the class before they start to write their first story. It will show the kids that even a dog can write a story so they can too. I think this book would be fitting to a 1st or 2nd grade class.
Hills, T. (2012). Rocket writes a story. New York: Schwartz & Wade...more
Hills, T. (2012). Rocket writes a story. New York: Schwartz & Wade...more
This sequel to How Rocket Learned to Read has the same irresistible charm of the first. While the first book inspired new readers on their way to proficiency, this book will inspire young writers to try their hand at the craft. Rocket loved books like they were his friends. He loved words too and used his nose to find new words to add to his collection. Eventually, Rocket had so many words, he just had to do something with them. So he decided to write his own story. But when he was faced with th...more
Books are inspiring! They make me sing." - The little yellow bird
Rocket is back, sniffing out some new words to hang on his word tree. But how will he find the most important ingredient of all - inspiration?
Literacy teachers in any elementary school should get their hands on this delightful book. Bonus - most students already know and love Rocket from Rocket Learned to Read, so you'll already have a captive audience for Rocket's further adventures.
If there are first- through third-grade teachers out there who do NOT use this book to inspire their kids to write their own stories, I want to yell at them right now and say GO GET THIS BOOK AND READ IT TO YOUR STUDENTS!!!! Actually, I'd like to get a copy of this book for every kid out there. I loved How Rocket Learned to Read, and I love this one just as much. Rocket is my hero. I plan to put both of these on display at the library as much as possible.
Just as good as How Rocket learned to read...but maybe better. Does a spectacular job of making the writing process concrete for young students...can't wait to share this one with second and third graders. When I read the first one aloud, my kindergartners and first graders were amazed. "That's happened to me!" is what I heard over and over. Somehow, Hills has put these mysterious brain processes into language that little ones understand. Amazing!
Thrilled, thrilled, thrilled for the newest Rocket book. When I first read HOW ROCKET LEARNED TO READ, I thought I'd never find a PB that I love more. But, then this one comes along and demonstrates the art of story writing and my heart's all a flutter. Tad Hills is pure genius and Rocket and Yellow Bird are stuck in my heart forever. I hope every kindergaten and first grade classroom across the US will store copies of this series.
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“Whenever I picture myself [as a child],” says Tad Hills, “I am doing art. I spent a lot of time on my own making things, drawing, and painting.” Hills was not consciously trying to become an artist, rather his motives were innocent and pure. “I liked making things,” he says.
As a graduate of Skidmore College in New York with a degree in art, Hills describes himself as the ultimate freelancer. He’s...more
More about Tad Hills...
As a graduate of Skidmore College in New York with a degree in art, Hills describes himself as the ultimate freelancer. He’s...more
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Feb 23, 2013 01:44pm
Yes, this dog does remind me of Harry!
Feb 23, 2013 03:29pm