Brownie & Pearl Step Out

by Cynthia Rylant, Brian Biggs (Illustrator)

Overview

Brownie feels shy about going to a birthday party in this charming Pre-Level 1 Ready-to-Read story, so her cat Pearl is brave for both of them!

Brownie and Pearl are heading out on the town for a birthday party. There will be friends and presents and games and treats—it’s going to be so much fun! But when they arrive, Brownie feels shy about ringing the doorbell. Will Pearl be able to revive her stepping-out spirit?

This delightfully adorable story, originally published as a picture book, is now a Pre-Level 1 Ready-to-Read that’s perfect for reading aloud with emerging readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442439092
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	08/23/2011
Series:	Brownie and Pearl Series , #1
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	24
Lexile:	AD140L (what's this?)
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Brian Biggs is the author and illustrator of many books for kids, including the Tinyville Town books, the New York Times bestselling Frank Einstein series (written by Jon Scieszka), and Everything Goes. Brian has worked as an art director and graphic designer, animator for interactivity and multimedia projects. His illustrations have appeared in magazines, newspapers, advertising, posters, toys, and puzzles. He works in an old garage. Visit him at MrBiggs.com.
Cynthia Rylant is the author of more than 100 books for young people, including the beloved Henry and Mudge, Annie and Snowball, Brownie & Pearl, and Mr. Putter & Tabby series. Her novel Missing May received the Newbery Medal. She lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Visit her at CynthiaRylant.com.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 1—Brownie and her cat Pearl are going to a birthday party. They set off down the street, present in hand, and each with a flower in her hair. Upon arriving at the balloon-festooned house, Brownie suddenly gets a case of the jitters and considers going home. Pearl suffers from no such shyness and enters through the kitty door so Brownie has to knock after all. Of course, the party is great fun with games, cake and ice cream, and more ice cream. Brownie is glad she came to the party and that she has such a bold kitty. This story is essentially a beginning reader in a picture-book format. Rylant's short text ("Brownie likes the party. She plays games. She eats cake.") is illustrated literally by Biggs. His digitally rendered illustrations are full of bright colors, clean lines, great expressions, and white space. Great for beginning readers, shy children, or storytime audiences.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

School Library Journal

The first in a planned eight-book series, Rylant and Biggs's collaboration heralds a feline-human connection worthy of comparison to Mr. Putter and Tabby. It's a good thing that cats are invited to the birthday party when Brownie and her pet Pearl step out, because Brownie is too shy to knock when she arrives at the door. Then Pearl slips through the kitty door, encouraging Brownie to muster up the courage to go inside. A warm welcome, party games, cake, ice cream and "more ice cream" (the second helping claiming its own page opening with a messy-faced, rather queasy-looking Brownie) await her. Digitally produced cartoon-like artwork at times attends to background details and at other times effectively focuses solely on characters to highlight emotions and actions. While this picture book could work well as a read-aloud, its controlled text and uncluttered artwork also opens it up to beginning-reader-book status. Readers of all sorts will look forward to the next time Pearl and Brownie step out together. (Picture book/early reader. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews