Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

Pinwheel Days

Pinwheel Days

Ellen Tarlow
Illustrator:  Gretel Parker 
Fiction
For ages 6 to 8
Star Bright Books, 2011   ISBN: 978-1595720597

One day Pinwheel the donkey is playing by himself and he wishes, out loud, that he had someone to play with. Then he hears an echoing voice that says “I wish I had someone to play with.” Everything Pinwheel says is echoed back, for a while. Then the echo starts to say things that Pinwheel hasn’t said, which is very odd indeed. How can an echo say things that are not copies of what you have said?

Well, they can’t. Pinwheel discovers that his so called echo is not an echo at all. Instead he has been listening to Squirrel’s voice. Pinwheel feels silly when he finds out that his echo was actually Squirrel, but soon the two animals are playing hide and seek, and the echo incident is in the past.

In this charming book, readers can enjoy four short stories about Pinwheel and the adventures that he has with his friends Squirrel, Rabbit, and Owl. The stories are funny, delightfully sweet, and they are perfect for children who are learning to read by themselves. Hopefully, Pinwheel and his friends will be back with more stories soon.