This delightful novel in verse follows the adventures of a brother and sister around the neighborhood, and especially at the corner grocery store!
Race you to our corner grocery store!
Stanstones’ corner store is the heart of the neighborhood for the brother and sister in this story. They help to close the store every Saturday and save their pennies to buy candy. The store is the source of many adventures, where they spend a memorably spooky Halloween, play tricks on Mr. and Mrs. Stanstones, and form a search party to find Toby the store cat when he goes missing. What will happen to their beloved corner store when a brand-new supermarket opens up in town?
Full of humor and playful language, this novel in verse is a sweetly nostalgic celebration of a time when children had more freedom and a mom-and-pop corner store might be the center of a kid’s world. Based on Robert Heidbreder’s childhood, this follow-up to Rooster Summer can be read as a sequel or a stand-alone story. Chelsea O’Byrne’s vibrant illustrations bring the corner store and its colorful cast of characters to life.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
This delightful novel in verse follows the adventures of a brother and sister around the neighborhood, and especially at the corner grocery store!
Race you to our corner grocery store!
Stanstones’ corner store is the heart of the neighborhood for the brother and sister in this story. They help to close the store every Saturday and save their pennies to buy candy. The store is the source of many adventures, where they spend a memorably spooky Halloween, play tricks on Mr. and Mrs. Stanstones, and form a search party to find Toby the store cat when he goes missing. What will happen to their beloved corner store when a brand-new supermarket opens up in town?
Full of humor and playful language, this novel in verse is a sweetly nostalgic celebration of a time when children had more freedom and a mom-and-pop corner store might be the center of a kid’s world. Based on Robert Heidbreder’s childhood, this follow-up to Rooster Summer can be read as a sequel or a stand-alone story. Chelsea O’Byrne’s vibrant illustrations bring the corner store and its colorful cast of characters to life.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
| Published By | Groundwood Books Ltd — Apr 1, 2020 |
| Specifications | 64 pages | 5.5 in x 8.5 in |
| Keywords | childhood; neighborhood and community; sibling relationships; novel in verse; verse; rhymes and wordplay; families; daily life; change; imagination and play; respect for community; respect for others; figurative language; simile; metaphors; rhyme; questioning; visualizing; imagining; Common Core aligned; CC Literature Key Ideas and Details; CC Literature Craft and Structure; grade 1; grade 2; picture book; poetry; |
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Supporting Resources
(select item to download) |
Teacher's Guide |
| Written By |
ROBERT HEIDBREDER is an award-winning children’s poet and author. His many books include I Wished for a Unicorn, Drumheller Dinosaur Dance, Song for a Summer Night and Rooster Summer. Robert spent thirty years as a primary school teacher and has won the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and continues to do many school and festival presentations. |
| Illustrated by |
CHELSEA O’BYRNE is a freelance illustrator and art instructor based in Vancouver, BC. She graduated from Emily Carr University with a BFA in illustration. She has also illustrated Hello, Crow! written by Candace Savage, and Marisa and the Mountains, written by George M. Johnson. |
| Written By |
|
ROBERT HEIDBREDER is an award-winning children’s poet and author. His many books include I Wished for a Unicorn, Drumheller Dinosaur Dance, Song for a Summer Night and Rooster Summer. Robert spent thirty years as a primary school teacher and has won the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and continues to do many school and festival presentations. |
| Illustrated by |
|
CHELSEA O’BYRNE is a freelance illustrator and art instructor based in Vancouver, BC. She graduated from Emily Carr University with a BFA in illustration. She has also illustrated Hello, Crow! written by Candace Savage, and Marisa and the Mountains, written by George M. Johnson. |
| Audience | ages 6 to 9 / grades 1 to 4 |
| Reading Levels |
Fountas & Pinnel Text Level N
Guided Reading N |
| Common Core | CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4 |
Short-listed, David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award, 2022
Commended, A Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year, 2021
Commended, CBC Books Best Canadian Picture Books, 2020
[A] gorgeous book in verse.
” —Book Riot“A free-spirited, warmly nostalgic vision.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A whimsical novel in verse for older elementary and younger middle school collections.” —School Library Journal
“Today’s readers of Our Corner Store may find themselves envying and wishing for the freedom that their parents and grandparents enjoyed during these earlier times. …Highly Recommended.” —CM: Canadian Review of Materials
“It will bring back memories of pre-shopping-mall days for many adults, while its poems will appeal to young readers ages six to nine.” —Winnipeg Free Press