Last week, ML informed me “When I get a phone.  I don’t want it to be like your phone. I want an iPhone.”  I laughed responding, “Who knows what phones will look Iike by the time you get a phone?”  I turned it into a financial education lesson explaining not only do you buy a phone, you pay over $100 per month to use the phone.  It resulted in the desired effect.  “Wow!  That’s a lot of money.”

Telephone by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jen Corace recently arrived at the library.  I didn’t bring it home because I wasn’t sure if ML had played the game Telephone.  A basic understanding of the game makes the book funnier.  After our iPhone conversation, I decided to take a chance ML knew the game.  While we read the book, she laughed many times.  At the end, I asked “Have you ever played Telephone?”  She said, “Yes.”  I didn’t have a chance to ask where because she wanted to look back through the book.

Birds perched along telephone wires pass along Mama Bird’s request, “Tell Peter:  Fly Home for Dinner.”  As the message moves along, it changes drastically.  Resulting with a bird, who looks a lot like Chicken Little, spewing a long list of warnings to Owl to share with Peter.  Wise Owl discerns the real message… “Your mom says fly home for dinner.”

One reason we explored the book again… an illustrated story line in the houses and yards under the telephone wire.  The other reason… the birds possess distinctive personalities wearing props to emphasize their interests.  You can’t appreciate all the details in the first reading.