Willow's Whispers by Lana Button

Button, Lana Willow's Whispers illustrated by Tania Howells 32 pg. Kids Can Press, 2010. PICTURE BOOK. $16.95. This is a sweet story about a little girl named Willow whose voice is never louder than a whisper. Because no one can hear what she is saying, she never gets what she asks for at school. After her dad gives her some encouraging words at night, she comes up with a plan....a MAGIC MICROPHONE! She tries it out the next day and it works! Everyone can hear Willow so she gets apple juice instead of orange juice; she gets to be the line leader finally! But all of her excitement at being heard comes crashing down when her microphone breaks....can Willow still find it in her to be heard?? The illustrations weren't my favorite. They are very simple and basic, but still add color and detail to the story. I did love how the fonts and the size of the words made you feel as if you could actually hear what was going on in the story. Everytime Willow spoke, the text would be very small, but when she used her magic microphone, it was big. The book also makes me wonder if the quiet, shy kids at school are really trying to be heard?! EL-ESSENTIAL. Whitney, Library-Teacher.