Sharry Berry May

Julia wrote a new book today, entitled:

Sharry Berry May
by Julia Rowe

You can just tell from the title that this is gonna be a good one.


Pg. 1:

"Sharry Berry May loves day."

She sure DOES love day!  Look at that no-handed cartwheel she's doing!  Only her hair is touching the ground!  She is literally leaping for joy because it's day!


Pg. 2:

"Sharry Berry May's older sister Hitie loved seeing sihgt's."

JULIA: Mommy?  First I was going to write that she loved NIGHT, but I couldn't think of any names that rhyme with "night."

So instead she went with a WORD that rhymes with "night," and the name "Hitie" (pronounced "Heidi.")  Got it.

Incidentally, I really like the speech bubble coming from Hitie, which serves to show us readers that Hitie is currently seeing a sight.  "What's that?"


Pg. 3:

"Hitie,' call'd Marry Berry May.  Where's my book bag?  I need it for third grade.'  'I don't know where it is,' said Hitie."

Woah.  WAIT A MINUTE.  Who is Marry Berry May?  Does Sharry Berry May have another sister?  And if so, what does Marry Berry May like?

ME: Julia, how come her name changed to Marry Berry May?
JULIA: (loud and defensive) THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT!


Pg. 4:

"So Marry Berry May hurried off to school.  'I thouht that I was going to miss the bus,' said Marry Berry May to her good friend Willa."

I thouht that Marry Berry May was just an accident.  I guess it's a recurring accident?


Pg. 5:

"It was a crisp October day.  There where jack-o-lanter's on people's step's."

There where?  How spooky and exciting!
(BTW, bonus points for Julia!  "People" was a spelling word that Julia missed on her last quiz, but now she's got it DOWN!  Next step: plural s versus apostrophe s.)


Pg. 6:

"At school Marry Berry May coulden't stop thinking."

What a deeply contemplative look Marry Berry May has.  Perhaps she's contemplating her impromptu identity change and wondering whether life is better as Sharry Berry May or Marry Berry May.  Or maybe she's wondering how it is physically possible for her legs to be coming out of the bottom of her desk when her skirt is somehow melded to the middle of the desk.


Pg. 7:

"Multiblucashon..."

(As Julia reads this aloud: "MUL-TI-PLI-CAAA-TION!")



Pg. 8:

"Her teacher gave her an F-"

An F minus??  But it's only OCTOBER!  Shouldn't the teacher be a little more lenient this early in the school year?  Besides, can't said teacher see that poor Marry Berry May is not the sharpest tool in the tool shed as it is?  I mean, she's not even sure of her own name.  All she knows for certain is that she loves day.



Pg. 9:

"Marry Berry May scipp't home with Willa and Hitie."

Well, for someone who just got an F minus AND a name change, Mary Berry May certainly seems like a chipper scipper.


Pg. 10:

"Marry Berry May slep't a verry good night.  Her dream was so pisful."

I hope that her dream was PEACEFUL and not pissful.  But if she didn't really mind an F minus, maybe she won't be that bent out of shape over a little pee in her bed.


Pg. 11:

"But no matter what Marry Berry May always love'd day."

Way to tie things back to the start of the story, Jules!  That is some literary skill there, honey!  Now, if only Marry Berry May could turn back to SHARRY Berry May at the end of the story, and the cycle would be complete.


ME: Julia, did you notice that you changed her name to Marry Berry May when you read your book over?
JULIA: Well, I noticed it after I finished writing it and then I looked at the cover and I was like... "oh, SHOOT."

Hooray for Sharry/Marry Berry May and her love of day!