Shoelaces are impossible by Ed Allen and Nathaniel Eckstrom
Scholastic, 2018 ISBN: 9781760154950.
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Procedures, Caterpillars, Shoelaces,
Instructions. Caterpillar really wants to be able to tie his
shoelaces. And understandably, as there are so many pairs of shoes on
his numerous legs. He can do all sorts of things really well. He can
count, walk a tightrope, fly a kite and play the drums, but all he
really wants to do in the world is tap dance, and he cannot possibly
do that when all of his shoelaces are untied.
His friend Rabbit offers to help. He keeps saying that all he needs
to do is practise and keep practising as he shows Caterpillar the
procedure of how to tie his shoelaces. The routine is told simply
and shown in Eckstrom's funny illustrations, enabling a child to
follow the instructions with a smile on their face. The looks on
Caterpillar's face as he tries each of the instructions will
encourage a child to follow his attempts.
Caterpillar is at first disgruntled with his lack of success but
with Rabbit's encouragement keeps practising until he gets it right.
This is a neat little story, told simply to encourage children to
attempt to tie their own shoelaces. With funny illustrations any
child would be delighted to try to tie their own, prompted by
Caterpillar.
Fran Knight