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Is anything more exciting for a child than anticipating
a birthday? No! Not only will she be another year older
(hooray!), but there will be presents and a birthday cake to
celebrate the event.
Zephyr can't wait for the big day to arrive, unable to
settle down or fall asleep the night before. Finally, it is
her birthday. By the afternoon, Zephyr gleefully answers the
doorbell ten times to admit her ten closest friends to her
party. By the time she goes to sleep that night, Zephyr has
had the best birthday ever.
Certainly she is surprised when the Birthday Fairy appears,
offering to fulfill one wish. Wasting no time, Zephyr wishes
to have her birthday every day. The next day, when Zephyr
wakes up, it is her birthday all over again, the party
dress, the friends, the present, the cake... all of it just
the same.
Zephyr is thrilled with this turn of events, so when the
Birthday Fairy reappears, Zephyr announces right away, "I
want it to be my birthday every minute!" Another full day,
of party, presents, friends and cake...over and over and
over. That night the over-stimulated little girl wishes for
her birthday to be every second. Oh dear, this is getting
out of hand. Before she knows it, Zephyr is overwhelmed by
too much, too fast, shouting, "Stop this birthday!!!"
The Birthday Fairy grants her wish. Sighing with relief,
Zephyr settles back in her tree fort to contemplate the good
sense of celebrating a birthday once a year, one party, one
cake at a time. She understands why such celebrations are
special, something to look forward to all year.
The illustrations are imaginatively done, showing a little
girl caught up in the excitement of the moment, suddenly
surrounded by chaos and way too much of everything. In the
end, Zephyr perches in the backyard tree fort, counting
stars in the night sky, happy to be exactly where she is.
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Luan Gaines/2005 for curled
up with a good kid's book |
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For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews,
visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)
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Stop This Birthday!