bilbopooh's Full Review: Mercer Mayer - Our Tree House: Level 3
It seems like a tree house is an essential ingredient in the life of many a fictional lad. I keep running across stories involving building a tree house and keeping it fortified against unwanted guests. Usually, those guests seem to be sisters. What about a story about a girl who builds a tree house and keeps her brother out? Why don't we ever get those? Nonetheless, I found Mercer Mayer's Our Tree House, a level three Little Critter First Reader, to be quite enjoyable, in large part because of what happens when Little Critter refuses his sister entrance into what he deems his private realm.
All Little Sister wants is a chance to share in her big brother's excitement. But he is dismissive, convinced she's too little for such things. No, he intends to share his new hangout with his friends. But each friend he asks already has plans - with his or her family. Gabby's baking cookies with her dad. Myopic moles Maurice and Molly are off to the zoo with their mom. Malcolm the tiger is helping his grandma with a garage sale. Only Gator has plans that don't involve quality time with his family, and that's because he intends to spend the day in bed fighting off a nasty cold.
By the time Little Critter returns home, his perspective has changed. Little Sister isn't just a pest. She's a potential playmate. And if all his friends are spending the day with their families, maybe he should too. By this time, Little Critter is so desperate for company, not to mention feeling a bit guilty about rejecting his sister earlier, that he agrees to her choice of game, which certainly isn't what he would be doing up there with his friends. But his willingness to adapt is a mark of his affection for his sister, even when she gets on his nerves.
As always is the case with Little Critter, the pictures are vibrant and entertaining, a perfect complement to the text. The middle pages do a good job of capturing his friends' personalities, but the beginning and end have my favorite illustration. I especially love his dad's exasperated expression as Little Critter, waving the paintbrush still wet from his work on the tree house, spills a glop of green paint on his dad's head. I'd hate to think what might have happened when Little Critter was nailing boards together!
The Tree House concludes with a series of simple tie-in exercises to make the fun last a little longer, but the most enjoyable of all possible follow-up activities would have to be actually building a tree house. If you're lucky enough to have a tree in the yard that's big enough, that's a perfect way to start off the summer. And boys, have a heart and let your sister come in once in a while.
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