Beverly Billingsly Takes a Bow

This is a fun book to teach children about friendship and making the best of a disappointing situation. There was a place in the book, however, where I felt like a page had been left out as it jumped from one subject to another with no connection. (From Dad's comments about his audition to Beverly singing the banana song - where did this banana song come from? What was the dream Dad was talking about?) I was a bit confused. Other than that, it was well written and held my student's interest.

Beverly Billingsly gets a trunk full of costumes from her aunt for her birthday. She loved to try them on a pretend to be various people. That is why she is very excited to hear that her school will be doing a play. She tries out for the play but things don't go well. She gets stage fright when she sees all of her classmates looking at her. She is given the part of a stone wall and a shrub. She fells like they are small parts and she is really disappointed. After taking with her parents she learned there are no small parts and she decides to try her best no matter what. The book has a great theme of self confidence. Kids today can never hear this theme enough! Yes the book is really good and the story moves at a fast pace.