Plant a Kiss

Plant A Kiss. Amy Krouse Rosenthal and

  Peter H. Reynolds. Harper. 2012.

ISBN # : 978-0-06-198675-8

This a picture book story about a little girl named by the author simply as “Little Miss”. She kisses the soil, waters, and waited for her plant to grow. The results are incredible. Little Miss  shares this wonderful gift with her everyone around her. She does this despite the warnings of her friends  against such an action. Eventually she had nothing left and returns to the spot where she first planted the kiss, only to find that her magical substance had grown immensely. Out of just one kiss comes “Endless Bliss”.

It is  a story of  how one little act of love can be the start of giving so many people joy.

I would use this book with 3-5 year olds because it is a very simple story which is at the same time intriguing. On the children may wonder what will happen next and might try to predict the outcomes as the events unfold.. Another reason is that there are few words yet the story of Little Miss evokes thought and wonder. It is a story of sharing, something that 3-5 year olds are learning to deal with. It teaches that giving does not mean the giver  has to lose in anyway what-so-ever and can result is that the giver may get something returned a hundredfold. It is a story of how a simple act of love can lead to magical wonders.

The illustrations are simple and uplifting. They are drawn in black in and then a water color wash over it. There is no background except the white of the paper to detract from the actions of the figures that are drawn. The is a minimal use of color. Little Miss is almost totally shaded in grey and she is the main character in the story. What is very colorful is the bright red bowl from which she distributes her magical result of planting a kiss. The odorous substance it self is in pink polka dots and shimmery with iridescent coloring. The mood the pictures invoke is one of clarity and being at peace with its minimal use of color and  large expanses of uncluttered white background. They invoked in me an instant empathy for Little Miss. The children would probably like them because the  illustrations are cartoons and the back ground might give them a sense of lift and open space. They might love to magical sparkly result of the kiss and empathize with a skinny little girl in baggy long and stripy shorts and a T-Shirt with her hair tied in a pony tail. They might like the contrasting  intensity of color of the red bowl. I was drawn to the illustrations and its minimalistic portrayal of the story. The picture told a story as much as the words did. With a few strokes the illustrator takes us through a range of emotions and actions that the child goes through and made me experience a wide range of feelings too. I instantaneously loved Little Miss … as soon as I saw her I was drawn to her.

As a provocation I would have a large picture or overhead of the page in which Little Miss plants a kiss and would only have the illustration placed in a prominent position. The children may wonder if she has planted something,  and if so what was it that she was planting?..  I might use the page before that one on the previous day and the children may wonder whether she is burying or digging some thing up. I might place many little red baskets or bowls and place the in interesting places in the class room. The children might wonder why they are there like that, the most probably use the basket for putting things in themselves.

Some ways I might present the book:

 1. Reading the book itself as a circle time story.

2. Felt board story- I would have Little Miss in her various moods and performing various actions. I would also have pieces of each of the other unnamed children in the book, such as the chubby little black boy or the boy in pale pink, as well as the red bowl, full and empty. I would also have different pieces for the different states of the magical substance, such as when it just sprouts, as it grows, what it looks like wafting in the breeze, and what it looks like in the end. I would do this all on a background of white felt. I would make these my self as I enjoy the process. I plan to either draw, water color and cut out, the pieces on felt or on photocopies. If the pieces were to be of paper then I would laminate and glue Velcro on the back of them.

3. I would like to make a magnetic board story presentation here I would have the same pieces.  This time I would copy the pictures onto sticker paper and glue them onto a magnetic sheet and cut them out. I would use a cookie tray painted white as my board.

4. Story Basket- I would have a doll which I would dress up as Little Miss and other smaller people. I would have a toy watering can and shovel if I could find them and a little red saucer, bowl or basket. I might have glitter as the magical substance.

5. Story stones- I would either photocopy and color the pages with the different characters etc. and cut them out. The I would decoupage it on to River rocks and present the story with my voice and the rocks. I would also Like to try painting the stones with acrylic paint.

6. Story Vine- I would  have the same kind of pieces except I will enlarge and laminate then cut them out. I would pin them on the cord or string as the story unfolds.

7. Story Yoga-. I would tell the story verbally while going thorough the different postures and in the same sequence as Little Miss takes. I would also have a diagram of a child in each of the poses which will be on individual pages which I will Laminate, then make into a ring holder book as references for the children and myself.

I would like to see if my niece and nephew will do the yoga postures while  I photograph them.

Extensions of this story are giving each child a red basket and asking them o fill them with what they think their own magical kisses would look like.

Giving the children a wide variety of art supplies and asking them to paint and decorate their own magical substance.

We might branch onto planting a seed, tending it and watching sprout and grow. The children would learn how a plant needs water soil, air and sunlight, and care to grow.

We could visit a plant store and look at the different plants. We could learn how different trees, plants and other growing things need different conditions to grow.

We could plant our own flower, berry and vegetable garden.

Plant a kiss on PhotoPeach