Leave Me Alone!

Author and Illustrator: Vera Brosgol
Roaring Brook Press, 2016

The book Leave Me Alone!, written and illustrated by Vera Brosgol, can be classified as an easy reader. This book is about a woman who becomes so overwhelmed with what is happening around her that she one day decides she is going to leave to find some peace and quiet. She is surrounding by so many grandchildren that it becomes too much when she needs to knit sweaters for the cold season. Throughout this book it tells of the adventures that the woman goes on trying to find quiet. She goes through the dark forest where she meets a family of bears who will not leave her alone. She goes further and runs into some mountain goats, they will not leave her alone either. She packs up and moves away from the goats, she has traveled so far up she ends up on the moon. On the moon, she meets little creatures who have never seen a human before and they want to know what she is so they try to use their beeping scanners. It seemed to be impossible for the woman to find a place that is peace and quiet. She decides to climb through a worm hole where it is completely dark. Here, she finds the perfect quiet she needs. She sits down, does her knitting, drinks some tea, and enjoys herself. She then decides to pack up and go home where everything is exactly as she left it. Throughout this piece, the pictures work hand in hand with the words to create a children's book that is engaging and relatable. The content and design of this book are intriguing for young children wanting to improve their reading skills.
The content is laid out in a specific way so children do not lose focus within the first few pages. The author does an excellent job of using sight words and words that are easier to decode. Children are easily discouraged and it is important in the early stages, that they do not stray away because they find it too difficult. Along with the vocabulary, the sentence lengths are not too long and the amount of words on each page are just enough so that the individual can read through the page and understand all that is happening. The words are not everything that make up this piece though. The pictures are an important factor in a way that they help the reader decode words that they may have not seen before. 

Although the content in this piece is exactly what readers who are at this level need, the design is exceptional as well.  When writing a children's book, the author needs to understand the age level that will be reading the piece for it to be successful. Brosgol does an excellent job of keeping line lengths short and to the point. The words on each page are somewhat in a bunch which leaves more space on the page. White space on pages is important for children reading at this level. They need to rest their eyes as they read so that they do not become overwhelmed. There is plenty of white space between the words and the illustrations. Illustrations are something that cannot just be thrown into a book. They need to be placed accordingly so that the reader is not distracted while reading. 

This is an overall well written piece that children who are moving up into easy reader and transitional books will be able to understand and grasp. The content is complete and the design is well throughout by the author. Children who are trying to further their reading skills will enjoy this easy reader. From a teacher point of view, this book would be an excellent book to have available for any first or second grader. This is also a book that could be used for story time or even a lesson that is being taught. Vera Brosgol has put together an excellent piece for children at the easy reader level.                                                                                                                 

Review by Cathleen Woenker