MY VERY FAVORITE BOOK IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD d MY FAVORITE I d
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Illustrated by MICHAEL ROBERTSON Illustrated by MICHAEL ROBERTSON
To my mom, my very favorite person in the whole wide world. — Malcolm
To my lovely mother, Carmelinda, who always encouraged me to read . . . and draw! — Michael
The text type was set in Rockwell. The display type was set in Loyola Pro. The illustrations were created digitally, using Photoshop with hand-done textures made with ink and pencil. Book design by Doan Buu. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, NewYork, NY 10012. Text copyright © 2021 by Malcolm Mitchell. Illustrations copyright © 2021 by Michael Robertson. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. Made in North Point, Hong Kong. 137
ISBN-13: 978-1-338-75248-9 ISBN-10: 1-338-75248-0
SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, NewYork, NY 10012
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MY VERY FAVORITE BOOK IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD
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by Malcolm Mitchell illustrated by Michael Robertson
SCHOLASTIC INC.
Hi! I’m Henley.
And this is a story about finding my very favorite book in the whole wide world.
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But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
Reading can be hard, you know?
Once upon a time, everyone thought I hated to read, but that’s just not true.
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In some books the words are too big, the sentences too long, and there are way too many pages.
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In other books the pictures have zero to do with cool things I like, or with what’s inside of me.
I do try, but some books are so giant, if I stood on them, I would turn into a GIANT!
Other books are so boring, I’d rather use them as pillows.
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When I’m supposed to be reading homework, I’d rather play football in the backyard.
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Once, I took a wagon full of books to the town swimming pool to find out how good they could swim.
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When I tried to read books about dinosaurs, they made my brain hurt. So I gave the books back to the dinosaurs.
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I’ve tried reading books about mountains, pickles, aliens, monsters, cats chasing mice, and mice chasing cats. I even found a book about cats chasing mice up a mountain while aliens eat pickles with monsters, but none of those made reading easier or more fun. But that all changed when Mrs. Joy gave the worst homework assignment ever. 9
“Find your very favorite book in the whole wide world and bring it to school tomorrow. It can be a book about anything. Just make sure you love it, because you’ll be sharing it with the class.”
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The school bell sounded like a hundred horns blowing in my ear. Thinking about the yucky homework assignment gave me a super headache and made my hands sweaty.
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On the way home from school, I stopped by the mighty library hoping to find any book that could be my very favorite.
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My friends went into the library ahead of me.When it comes to finding books, I’m not so fast.
Inside, there was a nice man sitting behind a jumbo-sized desk. I asked him if he could help me find my very favorite book in the whole wide world.
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He showed me books about science, and adventure, and squishy animals. He flipped through the pages of books about flags, farms, and holidays. He’d found plenty of books with twisty-big words, sentences as long as my legs, and pictures that tangled the pages. It gave me the heebie-jeebies.
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When I saw my friends in the middle of the library, having fun and reading, I felt more lost than ever.
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WORLD
The next place I tried was Mrs. Rackley’s Bookshop. Maybe she could help me find my favorite book.
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Mrs. Rackley did what she does best. She brought piles and piles of books. I looked and looked and looked, but I couldn’t call any of them my very favorite book in the whole wide world! All those pages, and all those words, made my eyes tired. I realized it was going to take a book-miracle to find my very favorite book!
I grew a sad face and stomped all the way home.
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Mama was unloading the dryer and she could tell I was having a crummy day.
I told her all about the worst-ever homework assignment.
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“The librarian and Mrs. Rackley tried their best to help me find a book, but it was no use. I’ll never find my very favorite book in the whole wide world!”
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With a voice as warm as rolls from an oven, Mama said, “Henley, sometimes the best stories can be found inside ourselves.” After a sweet kiss on the forehead, Mama’s words lit up inside me.
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That’s when I had a brilliant idea!
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The next morning, I could hardly wait for my turn to share my very favorite book in the whole wide world!
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I stood proud as all eyes in the reading circle stared at me.
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“Everyone thinks I hate to read, but that’s not true! Yes, some words are too big, and some sentences are too long, but that’s not my biggest challenge. Before today, I just hadn’t found a book I wanted to read. I hadn’t found the words or pictures or pages or sentences or subjects that showed me, me.”
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“So last night I wrote a book! It’s called MyVery Favorite Book in theWholeWideWorld . It’s about a big, fat, bumpy journey to finding the perfect book. My book has words and pictures and pages that show me, me. And that show you me.”
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When I started reading my book out loud for everyone to hear, I struggled. But soon my words began to flow. The pictures I drew danced off the pages.“Everyone can have a very favorite book in the whole wide world, even if they have to write it.”
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When I was done telling my story, all my classmates clapped and cheered.
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My teacher gave me a gold star on my homework. And that’s the truth!
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Literacy crusader Malcolm Mitchell
scholastic.com
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