This Level 1 reader opens with a question for the reader to determine why Milly is so silly. The story progresses with two lines per page indicating first what Milly likes and then following what she does not like in a repetitive pattern. Cartoonish, frenetic, kid-appealing illustrations accompany the couplets. A young reader might be too overwhelmed by the illustrations to realize that the silliness that answers the rhyme is to observe that Milly only likes words (consequently “things”) that have a double letter. The beginning reader would need to be prompted to observe the words and their spellings to have any chance at successfully answering the riddle (revealed on the last page). A teachable moment comes in returning to the words to note the double letter combinations.
Contributed by K. Stehman, Librarian
Editor's note: I did play this as a game in summer camp a few decades ago. The camp counselor would repeat some couplets and we'd have to try to invent similar couplets of our own to match the invisible pattern. It took a while before anyone figured out what the pattern was but it did make for a fun and obviously, for me, memorable game for nine and ten year olds.
