Say Hello, Vanessa

Hello all! I am Candice Knott, a NCSU  graduate student working on my Master's of Elementary Education and Math Specialist program. When I was younger my mother subscribed us to the Weekly Reader Book Club. It was like Christmas was waiting for me in the mailbox once a month! One book that came spoke directly to me as a child in a military family that moved a lot. Say Hello, Vanessa, written by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and illustrated by Lillian Hoban was a story about a young small mouse that was scared to make new friends. She was encouraged by her mother to make friends and say "hello" to the others. I remember feeling like this little mouse was feeling the same way I did every time I walked into a new classroom or in big crowds. I was a small voiced little girl, that was often mistaken as not social and not friendly. I keep that book in my classroom today and use it to show my students that even us "grown ups" remember children's stories that helped us love reading and work through some difficult times. Whenever I have a student added to my class, I spend a bit of time with them and read this with them. So very often, as we finish the story, the child will say that they knew how she felt and loved how in the end Vanessa shined!