Those Shoes

Title- Those Shoes
Author/Retold- Maribeth Boelts
Illustrator- Noah Z. Jones
Genre- Multicultural book
Grade level- kinder-3rd grade

The story starts with Jeremy and he’s looking up a billboard that has an advertisement of shoes he wants to own. He asks his grandma for them but they have no money for them, they only have money for what they need. All of his friends have the shoes and they’re always showing them off  at school. One day his shoe broke, and Mr. Alfrey gave him a free pair of Velcro shoes. All of his friends laughed at him when he came in the room, except for Antonio. Grandma said I have some money set aside and they go to the store to buy the shoes. One look at the price and they didn’t buy them. Jeremy suggested they go to a thrift store because a kid might have gotten two pairs or out grew one really fast. They went to two thrift shops with no luck, but at the third one, they found them. They were only $2.50 but they fit Jeremy to tight and his grandma wouldn’t buy shoes for him that wouldn’t fit. Jeremy bought them with his own money an said they would stretch out sooner or later. His grandma bought him a pair of boots for the winter but Jeremy paid them no mind. At school, he saw antonio with tape over his shoes and he knew the shoes he had would fit him perfectly. He had a hard time deciding if he should give them to him or not. When he woke up the next day, he ran over to Antonio’s house, rang the door bell, put the shoes on the mat, and ran. Everyone saw Antonio’s new shoes and Jeremy still wore the Velcro, but it began to snow and everyone changed into boots and Jeremy put his new, never worn boots on. Antonio in line tapped on the shoulder and said thanks.

This is an amazing story of friendship, identity, and sacrifice. I think students today connect identity to much with the newest fad or fashion. This book shoes that it’s the heart that matters, not the accessories. The story shows how friends and families should take care and love one another. This book is a great example for children to learn and follow. I would use this as a discussion based topic for adjectives and pose the question what type of friend is Jeremy? and What are some qualities a good friend should have?


 

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