Mom's Choice Gold Award Winner! Miss Hawthorn's room is neat and tidy, not a pencil or paintbrush is out of place. And that's how she likes it. And she likes trees that are colored green and apples that are painted red. Miss Hawthorn does not like things to be different or out of the ordinary. Into Miss Hawthorn's classroom comes young Willow. She doesn't color inside the lines, she breaks crayons, and she sees pink trees and blue apples. What will Miss Hawthorn think? Magical things can happen when your imagination is allowed to run wild, and for Miss Hawthorn the notion of what is art and what is possible is forever changed. Art Projects and Activities with Willow Click on the images below for larger ones to print and color [PDF]. Willow likes to draw sea creatures in bright colors [PDF]. Something huge sits next to Willow [PDF]. Willow paints birds with fancy feathers [PDF]. Click here to download a Willow activity guide full of puzzles, questions, art, and more [PDF]. Kindergarten-Grade 3—All of the students in Miss Hawthorn's art class draw trees that are alike, except for Willow, a rosy-cheeked little girl who paints what she sees when she closes her eyes. When the rigid, unimaginative teacher tells her that blue apples do not exist, Willow brings her one the next day. "Horrid little girl," Miss Hawthorn says. Yet at Christmas the only gift Miss Hawthorn receives is from Willow. The child presents her with her beloved art book, which begins a transformation in the dour, unhappy woman. Miss Hawthorn begins to doodle and then to paint. Pictures are everywhere. When the children come back to school in January, they discover an inspired teacher in paint-smeared jeans and smock who invites them to help her change their room into a work of art. Soft-toned watercolors contrast colorful, autumn trees with the all-the-same green ones, show snow-covered trees that "broke when they could not bend," and finally present the willow tree in the art room, which is a tribute to Willow. Expressive faces show wonderment and joy as teacher and students discover—as Willow has—the intense power of imagination. This book can be read alone or read aloud and is a solid choice for elementary collections.— Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. "Teachers aren't the only ones teaching in this picture book about a precocious girl who has her own ideas about what makes good art." --Mary Schulte McClatchy Newspapers In dictatorial Miss Hawthorn's cheerless art room, students sit "in their rows, silent and still, like eggs in a carton" producing cookie-cutter busywork. "Everyone except Willow." --Kirkus Reviews Willow is a recipient of the prestigious Mom's Choice Award. The Mom's Choice Awards honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. --Mom's Choice Awards Miss Hawthorn, a strict and orderly art teacher, meets her match in the free-spirited Willow, whose creativity and kindness transform her teacher and their classroom. --Oprah's Book Club - 2010 Kids' Reading List Students in grades one through four were especially captivated by this story. ...The children appreciated that Willow was always unique and "thought her own thoughts" about art. --Comstock Read Aloud Honor Books 2009 Rosemarie Brennan teaches writing to students of all ages. She lives in Howell, Michigan. Denise Brennan-Nelson's boundless energy and enthusiasm come from her days as a motivational speaker. Since the publication of her first children's picture book, Buzzy the bumblebee in 1999, Denise has taken that enthusiasm into schools and inspired thousands of children to "bee-lieve" in themselves. She is also the author of My Teacher Likes to Say and My Momma Likes to Say, two humorous books that examine the many idioms and clichés teachers and mothers use; and Penny: The Forgotten Coin, which traces one penny's journey through history. Denise lives in Howell, Michigan, with husband Bob and their two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel. Used Book in Good Condition