Clara and Asha Book

Clara and Asha is an imaginative, fantasy that's gorgeous oil paintings hooked me from the first page (well, the cover actually!) Eric Rohmann, author of My Friend Rabbit, has written and illustrated this story of a friendship between Clara and her enormous fish friend, Asha. Young protagonist Clara, who is probably 5 or 6, explains that she met Asha in the park. Asha is a fountain fish, made of stone. Asha becomes Clara's new imaginary friend, who she shares many adventures with. They play in the tub, have tea with her other friends (imaginary of course), go out on Halloween, play in the snow and play in the sky. The detailed, painted illustrations allow the readers imagination to let loose as it is captivated by Clara's imagination. My favorite pages are the wordless ones where Clara is lifted out her bedroom window and into the sky by a bubble she has blown. She drifts along, and when the bubble pops. she is caught by Asha, then she flies down to her house when her mother calls, "Clara, time for bed."

Although this story is for perfect bedtime, it definitely has its place in the classroom. I always think a book with wordless pages goes very well with inferring, because the reader needs to make sense of what the author is telling them through illustrations. It is also a great story of friendship and allows for text to self connections with the idea of an imaginary friend.