The epitome of what we might call THE One Book/Four Hands book for an approach to reading and reading aloud with younger readers. Ame's book is too much fun to miss as part of your 2012 reading year.

We'll be pairing this one up with John Steinbeck's OF MICE AND MEN this fall to talk about the individuals who make up a symbiotic relationship or friendship. We will extend the conversation to talk about how each attempts to meet the perceived "needs" of the other and how this might help or hinder the individual within the relationship. BOY + BOT puts this out there in such a simple manner, that I want my Room 407 Readers to see how it works at the picture book level before we take it to the ranch.

My hands-down favorite scene from BOY + BOT is when the friends share and post their drawings of one another toward the end. Oh. . .a boy voice? A robot voice? A professor's voice? You know this one has Mr. Hankins's read-aloud stamp all over it.

And that professor. . .we'll let's just say that we have big plans for him when we talk about Slim from John Steinbeck's classic. Really. . .isn't it Slim who provides the voice of reason and discernment in the work? Think about it. . .

Picture books. . .classics in their own right. . .paired up purposefully with classics, which should paint a larger picture when they are done right, create a natural symbiotic relationship between the texts bringing the reader in via image and imagery.