Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel

Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel (Canada) - (US)
An I CAN READ Book, Level 2


Pages: 62
Ages: 6+
Finished: Feb. 4, 2011
First Published: 1978
Publisher: Harper & Row
Genre: Children's, easy reader, humour
Rating: 4/5



First sentence:

Grasshopper wanted to go on a journey.

Acquired: Purchased used at a book/garage sale or thrift store.

Reason for Reading: Ds read aloud to me as his reader.

This has always been one of my favourites of Lobel's books! While the whole story is about Grasshopper's journey, each chapter is episodic and tells a humorous tale of someone he meets along the way. These are so silly, they will have you laughing out loud along with your children. Ds enjoyed this one very much. He loves it when something silly or outrageous happens in a story and this kept him giggling. My favourite part is when he meets the beetles who love morning and they let Grasshopper join the club, giving him a sign and a wreath of flowers but as soon as he mentions he likes afternoon and evening as well they kick him out of the club and call him a 'dummy'. Ds's favourite is the story of a mosquito who insists that all must be ferried across the lake in his boat, no matter what. Well, the lake is a puddle and grasshopper won't fit into the boat and could easily hop over 'the lake'. The mosquito won't hear of it though, and grasshopper comes up with a great idea so as not to hurt mosquito's feelings. Since he can't fit in the boat he picks it up and carries it across the 'lake' and mosquito is happy that he has ferried Grasshopper across. Lovely illustrations, of course. A great easy reader that you can't go wrong with.