No, David! - By David Shannon

No, David! was written and illustrated by David Shannon (The Blue Sky Press New York. 1998). It was inspired by a book that David had wrote when he was five years old. The only words he knew how to write were 'no' and 'David.' He used this concept to write this book and as inspiration for the character of David.

The pages of this book are full of David doing something he shouldn't be doing. He tracks mud into the house, causes the bath to overflow, plays with his food, and so on. His mother is telling him to stop doing what he is doing. He plays ball in the house after his told not to and breaks a vase. He is sent to the corner and is sad about it. At the end of the story, David's mom shows him that she loves him. She gives him a big hug and says, "Yes, David...I love you!"

The illustrations are great in this book. The feeling of the little boy are very apparent on his face. Young children would recognize that he is being naughty and that he feels bad about it later. He is looking for forgiveness and love from his mom with his big eyes and he gets it. Some of the illustrations are humorous. David runs down the street naked and when he has food in his mouth, there are entire chicken legs and carrots in there. When he picks his nose, the picture is extremely close and it is pretty funny.

The reading level is from baby to pre-school. It is a book with a nice message: You will still be unconditionally loved. A good mini-lesson would be to make a book of "Yes, (child's name)!" The children could create a book full of the good things they do that they should be proud of.