Rosie's Walk

Rosie the hen decides that a walk about the barnyard is just the thing for her day. Clueless to potential problems Rosie leaves the safety of the chicken yard to take her leisurely stroll.

I use Rosie's Walk from the first day of the new term with my class. Text used is child friendly, relating simply that one day Rosie left her chicken coop and went for a walk. The work continues and describes where Rosie’s walk takes her. We talk about what is behind, under, over, and ahead of Rosie. I like that the illustrations and narrative provide opportunity for little people to express concepts regarding language.

Rosie goes:
over the hill
past the mill
across the yard
around the pond
through the fence
under the beehives

The copious use of prepositions is very useful for classroom and home use. The restricted vocabulary, 32 words, causes the book to be excellent for using with little people to broaden their understanding of language and to broaden their speaking vocabularies as we discuss the illustrations.

The core account of Rosie generates occasions for children to chatter about the plump little hen and the fox who wants to take her for dinner. Osage County First Grade often choose Rosie's Walk as a book to take home for at-home reading, or for taking out to one of the DEAR offices in the hallway where they read aloud to a stuffed reading buddy. Rosie's Walk has provided more than one sentence starter for little people struggling to put words onto paper in journals.

Rosie does not set out to cause any problem, however in her wake she leaves quite a trail of chaos. Because Rosie is so focused on her walk she is oblivious to the hungry fox following close behind. Rosie manages to escape the fox because each time he endeavors to move upon her, a calamity unintentionally set in play by Rosie rocks the fox back.

He/she falls into the pond, gets a rake in his/her face, sinks into the haystack, gets covered in flour, is attacked by bees when he lands on a wagon that rolls into the beehives and runs for his life when the bees chase him away from their homes; and through it all Rosie blithely wanders on, wholly ignorant of the pandemonium she has left in her wake. Rosie returns to the chicken coop none the worse for wear and in time for her supper while the poor fox has likely sworn off fowl for the rest of his/her life.

Complicated pen and ink drawings grace the pages of Rosie’s Walk. Rosie, is an enigma. She is hard to discern, her expression never changes. She walks about the barn yard with half closed eyes, wearing an expression of disinterest, oblivious to everything around her.

The fox, a gorgeous critter with an elaborately portrayed body and lovely eyes makes up for all the sentiment Rosie lacks.

I like that the image and sequence of events provide opportunity for little people to express ideas and concepts regarding language. Thirty four thumbs up from Osage County First Grade. Happy to recommend.

============================
Reviewed by Molly's Reviews
molly martin
============================

Product and shipping Details from Amazon site
Rosie's Walk
Author/Illustrator Pat Hutchins
Genre children’s book
Paperback: 32 pages
Listening level: Ages 2-8
Reading level: Read to the younger set ages 2 – 4, Read with help K-1, Read alone 1-3
Publisher: Aladdin
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416908358
ISBN-13: 978-1416908357
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 0.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces