ish

ish by Peter H. Reynolds

A single mocking comment can change the way we see things - about the world, about ourselves, or about things we love doing.

Ramon is a boy who loves to draw.  He draws all the time, and is happy when he is drawing.  One day his older brother makes fun of a picture Ramon is drawing - saying the picture doesn't look anything like the vase of flowers.

Ramon gets upset and crumples up his drawing.  After that, when Ramon tries to draw it isn't the same.  He feels he can't get the pictures just right.  He crumples up a lot of drawings.

 

 

After many months and many crumpled sheets of paper, Ramon put his pencil down.  "I'm done."

His sister, Marisol, watches him, and grabs one of the crumpled drawings.  When Ramon chases her to her room, he is startled to see her walls.  Marisol has saved many of his drawings and taped them up.

"This is one of my favorites," Marisol said, pointing

"That was supposed to be a vase of flowers," Ramon said, "but it doesn't look like one."

"Well, it looks vase-ISH!" she exclaimed.

Ramon starts to see his drawings differently after that.

"Ramon felt light and energized.  Thinking ish-ly allowed his ideas to flow freely.  He began to draw what he felt- loose lines.  Quickly springing out.  Without worry.

Ramon draws again, and is happy.  He finds that he can draw ish feelings, and even tries making ish poems.

Ramon doesn't worry about his brother's comment, or about getting drawings just right, anymore.  He is back to drawing because he loves drawing - and finding great joy in it.

7 Comments

  1. KidLitReviews on January 23, 2013 at 5:36 pm

    Nice book. Goes well with this week which is No Name Calling Week! Hi, I am one of the hostesses from the blog hop. I just noticed you posted this link and it looked so interesting I had to hop right over. I am now following ou. Please stop by Kid Lit Reviews and let me know what you think.

  2. bookwormbear on January 23, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    Thanks for stopping by to check out ish! And, thank you for hosting Kid Lit Blog Hop – and for following Bookworm Bear.

  3. redpeffer on January 23, 2013 at 8:00 pm

    Great way to convey an important idea, thanks.

  4. Julie Anne Grasso on January 24, 2013 at 12:54 am

    A beautiful story with a wonderful message. Thanks for bringing it to our attention and for linking in to the kidlit blog hop. Best wishes, Julie

  5. Marissa on January 26, 2013 at 3:23 pm

    What an adorable book I must get this for my family! Thank you for sharing. I’d love for you to link up with my Cozy Book Hop if you are interested at all, it’s open all week, you can stop by whenever you want!

    Marissa

  6. snacksformax on January 27, 2013 at 8:43 pm

    Thanks for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop! This story shows so many things – being true to yourself, being kind to others, the effects of being a bully, and understanding art, to name a few. I appreciate you introducing these to us!

  7. International Dot Day | Bookworm Bear on September 15, 2013 at 4:31 pm

    […] Bear loves Peter H. Reynolds books.  We’ve reviewed The Dot and Ish here – they are well worth looking for at local libraries and […]

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