One Word from Sophia

Sophia #1

by Jim Averbeck, Yasmeen Ismail (Illustrator)

Sophia tries varied techniques to get the giraffe she wants more than anything in this playfully illustrated story about the nuances of negotiation.

Sophia has one true desire for her birthday. But she has Four Big Problems in the Mom, Dad, Uncle Conrad...and Grand-mama.

Will her presentations, proposals, and pie charts convince them otherwise?

Turns out, all it takes is one word.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Family, Fiction, Humor, Animals, Fantasy

40 pages, Hardcover

First published June 16, 2015

About the author

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, a beautiful city built, like Rome, on seven hills-wooded hills of oak, walnut, and maple where I and my childhood imagination ran wild.

I enjoy throwing myself into situations which give me an opportunity to explore and grow. I joined the Peace Corps in my late twenties and went to live in Cameroon in western Africa for almost four years. It was there I first realized I wanted to write for children.

Reviews

[Maggie Mattmiller · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cute idea, but probably not one I would use in my classroom. I guess it highlights the value of the word please (and thank you!), but I hate the attitude that she should talk less, and her presentations are too much/too long. Come on! If a child really went through all the trouble to gear a presentation to an adults interest/career, and created not only a speech but charts/Powerpoint/etc, wow! I would want young readers to see that when you put forth that kind of effort, adults/anyone will really listen! You may not get what you want, but you will get respect. (In fact, sometimes when students at school tell me that they want more recess, a Gaga Ball pit, to be able to play football at recess, etc., I tell them to write a persuasive essay to the principal! Or to make a Powerpoint for her!) This girl though, is tossed aside! She's told she talks too much! How awful! At first I was going to give two stars, but the more I think about it, it's a one for me.

Moral of this story to me, is to turn on the tears/puppy eyes, and you get what you want. No thanks! That's NOT what I want from students or any kids in my life! I'd rather them stick to the research, presentations, etc. This book feels backwards to me!

[Riley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could give this more stars for the illustrations (which are ADORABLE), but the story is 1-star for me, all the way. First off, I struggle to see who the target audience is; The text is so wordy and advanced, especially when paired with the very simple/young illustrations. Secondly, the whole "moral" of the story is very weird to me. I guess it's trying to highlight the importance of saying "please" and "thank you", but the whole story revolves around adults shutting down this girl for giving well thought out arguments for why she wants a pet. Why are we putting down the efforts of a very smart and enterprising young girl who is actually doing a spectacular job of tailoring her argument to her audience? It made no sense to me.

[Carrie Charley Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's one word for One Word from Sophia: VOICE. Sophia is so sophisticated that her voice carries each of her loved ones voices- each distinct and true. It is clear that her parents, uncle, and Grand-mama have influenced her. She is one interesting character-driven kid because of her educated voice, which sets the tone for the whole story. Despite her intellect, the scale and style of the illustrations, along with her desire, all point fingers back to her kid-centric world. When a character has this much voice it transforms into the best kind of read aloud- a performance. Performances cry, "oncore!" and bring the readers back for multiple rereads. I loved the irony of the title, One Word from Sophia, and how it relates to the MANY outstanding vocabulary words in the story: verbose, effusive, loquacious among many others...not just one word at all! With so many stories out there about kids who want pets, it's amazing that one can still stand out from the pack. But, this books does it for sure! (Bonus: Sophia is from a blended family. We need diverse books!)

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ordered pizza! How many pictures books can my wife and I read before it arrives? Here's #2:

Sophia wants a giraffe for her birthday so she tries to persuade the members of her family to get it through a series of individualized pitches. The reader learns about tailoring proposals to different audiences, and Sophia learns about the power of being succinct.

Cute and funny with a quirky multiracial family.

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book! Y'all! Just stop whatever you're doing and read this book. You won't be sorry. There's something for everyone in this book: a multi-racial family, a strong girl character, a compelling slideshow, public opinion polling, big words, a tutu, and some great hair. The girl is Sophia, who has a deep, desperate yearning for a pet giraffe. It's her One True Desire. Her birthday's coming up. She's thought of all the angles... but none of them are working on her family. What's she going to do?!

I had so much fun reading this out loud, and my son loved it. Averbeck's prose flows beautifully, and even my husband was cracking up as Sophia was shot down with proposal after proposal. Her grandmother's reaction is the best. Ismail's art just explodes with joy. I hope she had as much fun drawing the characters as I had looking at them. In a world where books with leading characters of color are sadly lacking, this is a fantastic book for increasing diversity in children's literature. Bravo!

[Carrie Gelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great lesson in persuasion! Loved so much about this title!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed all the way through this book. Sophia is a wonderfully delightful character; so full of hopes and dreams, and quite resourceful in the ways in which she tells her mother, father, uncle, and grandmother what her one true desire is for her birthday, namely a giraffe. They are a hard bunch to win over. Mom is a judge, dad is a businessman, uncle a politician, and grandma a strict disciplinarian. Sophia comes up with a different strategy to plead her case to each of them, each one more creative than the last. Oh, how I loved this book. The language, the pictures, the message, all of it was a joy to read.

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful, charming, precious, funny, cute...

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Sophia!
She works so hard and nobody cares.
If only she could have employed the lazy but standard kid begging practice from the start.

So the takeaway message (for me. It should not be the takeaway message for the children who hear this book read aloud to them) is that adults are jerks and they really would prefer children not be heard at all. Unless you're using your manner words, you can just shut up, smart kids. Keep those brilliant little yappers shut.

Sophia, you can come live at my house. I love the way you think and the arguments you make especially as they are accompanied by pictorial representations.

[Laura Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore the illustrator. One of my fairly new fav's. Vibrant and lavish illustrations with a funny tale. My only complaint with picture books these days is the text is getting shorter and shorter overall. But this book is too wordy. It should have been created as a chapter book. The more ideal way to go with this story.

[Danni Green · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book would have been great if the text were removed and it were just the fantastic illustrations. Unfortunately, it does have text, and the text tells a story celebrating adults being completely remorseless buttheads to a child who deserves a whole fleet of giraffes just for putting up with them and their obnoxious tone-policing.

[Sandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Adorable illustrations and I love the little girl in the story. But the adults are terrible. This child is intelligent and gives a persuasive argument, but then is told she talks to much? Giving a rationale argument to get what she wants doesn't work, but sad eyes and saying Please does? This is not a message I want to send to my child.

[Whitney Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not entirely sure who the intended audience is as the illustrations are VERY juvenile while the text is pretty advanced.

I still liked it though, mainly because I too want a pet giraffe for my birthday.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful picture book that has lots of very rich language, a diverse cast of characters, appealing illustrations, and a cute story. It tells the story of Sophia, who very much wants a giraffe for her birthday, and who crafts various ways to convince her family members of her case. She presents a legal argument to her judge mother, a business plan to her businessman father, and polling data to her politician uncle (she just tries to butter up her grandma). This book could be used in teaching to help students understand how to write an argument, how to develop a business plan (hello 4th grade economics unit!), or devise and graph opinion polls. It could also be used for lessons in tailoring your writing to your audience. It would make a cute introduction to teach the use of a physical or online thesaurus. It has a "moral" which can be used to get students to predict - what is the one word argument all of her audiences want to hear? It is also just a delightful read aloud just for fun as well! Super appealing for K-3 and also usable for instruction or a unit hook in 3-5.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book-it had strong characters for the protagonist to emulate and it taught some big words and even had the definitions of those words in the back. I can see this book being used for a vocabulary lesson, for manners, persuasion and the list goes on and on. I will definitely be recommending this book to lots of teachers!

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is strange. The illustrations and the theme make be think the target audience is preschool to 1st grade. The vocabulary and reading level are +4 grade. So who is the target audience? Cute, but is it accessible?

[Adrianne Rosal · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's that one word?

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this! Great for vocabulary, persuasive writing, and just enjoying a fun story. Highly recommend!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute - the little girl wants a giraffe and uses different strategies to convince her family members. Lots of great vocabulary words, math concepts (charts/graphs), and a ordinary, positive depiction of a family of color.

[Amelia]

I liked it.

[Tammy Haberer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Sophia pleas to each parent and her grandma, trying to convince them she should have a giraffe as a pet. In her pleas, she is repeatedly told she is using too many words. I love how the book has a mini-glossary in the back for all the "hard words" she hears as responses from the adults.

[Brandi Balzer · Rating 1 out of 5]

One Word From Sophia is a book about a young girl who is trying to convince her parents to allow her to have a giraffe. She tailors an argument to each of the people standing in her way: her mom, dad, uncle and Grand-mama. She uses power points, business cases, and other extreme tactics to convince them but they all shut her down. Eventually she turns to begging which they pay attention to. The imagery in this is fun and light hearted but does not match the extreme verbiage and language used in the story.
I rated this a one. I gave it a one because the young girl was smart and put loads of effort into the projects and persuasions she developed to convince her family why she deserved a giraffe however, they refused to listen to her telling her she talked to much. However, when she begged and pleaded like a child her age would normally result to they finally gave her attention and listened to her request. This to me just encourages bad behavior and deters children from having a voice and using their creative skills. Also, this book uses some language that is far more advanced then what should be found in a children's book which makes it confusing as to who the intended audience is.

[The Library Lady · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd like to sum this up in "one word."
AWFUL

First, there is the fact that the jokes here are aimed right at the grownups, with nothing here for the kids except that Sophia wants a giraffe and everyone says no. Which could have been great, but as Sophia's mama the judge says about her request, this is "Too verbose."

Second, there is the conclusion, where Sophia gets a giraffe by batting her cute l'il eyes at her family and acting adorable and whining "please." What a wonderful example to kids in general--wail cutely and you'll get what you want. What a truly, truly WONDERFUL example for girls--offer some well reasoned arguments and get brushed off, whimper and coo and you'll get what you want.

Thirdly, there is the fact that adults will adore this because of the multiracial family art. Sorry, but that's not enough to make a good book.

[Allyson Goose · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cute illustrations, but message is terribly sexist. A smart girl comes up with thoughtful arguments, using impressive vocabulary words, to convince her family to get her a giraffe as a pet. In response to these arguments, ranging from a few sentences to less than one sentence long, her family members each tell her she’s talking too much and they walk out on her. Finally she cries and says please, which gets her the giraffe. This is not the message I want to share with young people, that girls’ intelligence and hard work don’t matter but that they should instead act like helpless damsels in distress to get what they want.

[Ms. Arca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! The character is funny, spunky, black (and has awesome big hair), and she has an incredible vocabulary. I love all of the tips on how to be persuasive. I will be coming back to this book time and time again as inspiration for writing persuasive pieces AND for infusing my writing with fantastic vocabulary.

This is a new favorite of mine for so so so many reasons.


(I also love that she wants a pet giraffe! It gives me hope for my future grumpy cat and hedgehog ownership!).

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this is smart. Sophia pleads her case for a pet giraffe using a variety of persuasive techniques, tailored to the particular temperament and values of each decision-making stakeholder in her family.

Except it's fun, and not horrible like I just made it sound. Think Emma Stone talking her parents into letting her move to Hollywood with a PowerPoint.

And experienced picture book readers will guess what that "one word" is going to be!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!

Sophia was great--she had such wonderful movement and expressions.

All she wants is a giraffe for her birthday and she uses all her best arguments and tailors each argument to each individual person in her family.

I also loved that there were some nice long words in the story (with helpful definitions in the back of the book!)

Does she ever get her giraffe? You have to read and find out!!

[Margo Tanenbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny picture book for adults and older kids. Sophia (mixed-race child from multi-racial family) tries to make the case that she needs a giraffe for her birthday. She tailors each presentation to the member of the family that's listening, which includes a judge, businessman, politician, and a strict grandmother. Lots of advanced vocabulary, with a glossary in the back. The pictures are delightful, capturing a childlike enthusiasm and art style.

[Ellon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is adorable! I loved everything about it except that she wanted to have a giraffe as a pet (which definitely IS illegal, despite Sophia’s claim). But even this fact didn’t make me lower the rating because the book is so clever. It kind of reminds me of I Wanna Iguana in that it shows how a child can create an argument to get what they want. I love how Sophia has different materials like graphs, maps, etc. to support her argument.
Highly recommended

[Meredith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to give an extra star for the illustrations, but the more I think about it, the more frustrated I am with the text, and so it stays at 1. Sophia was NOT verbose; she tailored her presentations to her audiences, and produced facts and persuasive ideas. The poor girl. She had to cry to get what she wanted? Ugh.