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The Big Green Pocketbook: A Timeless Picture Book About a Mother-Daughter Day for Children
On her day in town with her mother, a little girl starts off with an empty big green pocketbook—just like her mother’s—and along the way collects pieces of her day to put inside, inventing stories for each treasure. ‘Studded with inventive imagery.… A playful and most suitable setting for this winsome story with its timeless theme.’—Publishers Weekly. ‘ Bond’s cheerful illlustrations show a lively youngster exploring and enjoying the world around her.’—SLJ. 1993 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA)
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
3 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
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January 29, 2025A simple story of a mom & daughter who take the bus to go on a day of errands together. The daughter collects small items from each of their stops and something goes unexpectedly awry toward the end. I LOVE the last page and so did my daughter who immediately asked me to read it again. Illustrations by Felicia Bond of ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’ fame complement the text perfectly.
June 9, 2016
I'm pretty sure I checked this book out thousands of times when I was a little girl and today the pictures are beautiful as ever!!
April 10, 2020
I love realistic picture books and this one definitely fits that description. The main character is a little girl who is running errands with her mother and starts to gather treasures from each stop they make and collects them into her big green pocketbook. Each page of the book showcases each place they go and there are some terrific details in each illustration. (For example, they stop at a diner for lunch and there are lots of other people there and you get to see what they ordered too.) It’s fun to see what the little girl collects on their travels too! Towards the end, she accidentally leaves her beloved pocketbook behind...but you’ll have to read the book to find out how she gets it back!
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September 6, 2017This book is about a little girl who carries around a big green pocketbook as she runs errands with her mother.
This book is a great book for a read aloud in K and 1st grade. This could be used for students to read independently in second. It has a good flow in how the text is presented.
This book is a great resource to teach about character and setting in 1st grade. There are two main characters and two settings so it is easy to show the difference in the two to determine the setting and characters.
This book is a great book for a read aloud in K and 1st grade. This could be used for students to read independently in second. It has a good flow in how the text is presented.
This book is a great resource to teach about character and setting in 1st grade. There are two main characters and two settings so it is easy to show the difference in the two to determine the setting and characters.
January 3, 2022
Read this with my 7yo daughter. Received this book as part of the Before Five in a Row Literature package from Rainbow Resource. We did not use the guide for this story, but there is a craft where the child sews a paper handbag that we might use with felt because it's just too cute to pass up.
The story line in the book is simple enough for a very young child, so not exactly fascinating for an adult, but I love the 80s style illustrations and the story sparks a child's imagination.
The story line in the book is simple enough for a very young child, so not exactly fascinating for an adult, but I love the 80s style illustrations and the story sparks a child's imagination.
December 10, 2019
A little girl with a big purse goes shopping with her mother. A cute story from a small child's point of view. The illlustrations are charming and very detailed, for instance the running shoes beside the secretary's purse on the floor by her desk. I like it when the illustrations tell their own independent story.
October 14, 2024
Evergreen story of a young girl's love for her grown-up green pocketbook that she fills up after a bus ride to town and visiting shops with her mom. Sleepy on the way home, she falls asleep and leaves her pocketbook on the bus. The kindness of the bus driver brings it back to her. Simple and grounded in a child's process and experience with dear illustrations by Felicia Bond.
October 3, 2017
This is a sweet and light story of a little girl who has a pocketbook just like her mama's. Throughout the morning they run errands, and the little girl's empty pocketbook starts to fill up.
The illustrations are wonderfully sweet.
The illustrations are wonderfully sweet.
January 8, 2023
This was one of my absolute favorites as a kid and I would read it over and over again! It was so nice to revisit this in adulthood. What I really liked was that it really pulls you into the story with the beautiful illustrations and use of the senses- it feels like you're there!
May 13, 2023
What a delightful story that any child can relate to. Maybe not, in this era of traveling mostly by car, but the idea of losing something that you like but also that contains your memories and some fun new things.
March 31, 2019
Review by my 6 year old:
I like the pocketbook and I don't like the part where she loses the pocketbook.
I like the pocketbook and I don't like the part where she loses the pocketbook.
December 31, 2019
This was a favorite as a kid. I read it over and over, and still absolutely love it.
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February 7, 2022BookTree
S&E really loved
S&E really loved
March 12, 2022
Read this to my boy and he loves it. We’re going to have to ride on a bus and go shopping now! He can take a backpack though. 😉
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March 26, 20229.5 stars/10
October 26, 2022
Good modern day literature. Good neighbors, near and far.
March 13, 2025
i love this book for lessons with 6/7 yr old kids on retention and memory skills :)
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October 7, 2013Book Title: The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom
Description: In this story, a young girl spends the day running errands with her mom, while collecting many objects for her new green pocketbook.
Focus: Unit 1: Writing small moments (personal narrative from Lucy Calkins). Ransom demonstrates small moments in different settings throughout the book. She does a good job showing how writers focus on one setting/idea and capture the details in that one single moment.
Teach: W.1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal even order, and provide some sense of closure.
While reading the book, pause and discuss the setting on each page. Focus on how the character remains in one place and describes her surrounding in that one small moment. Review the 5 senses and ask students to recall the details. “What did she see? What did she smell? What did she hear? What did she say? What did she touch?” Tell students that we can imagine our whole life as a book, but we can focus on one page and share a small moment of our book, just the like author did. To conclude the lesson: Incorporate a visual from Lucy Calkins “X marks the Spot.” This does a good job starting students off with small moments.
Expected Outcome: Students will be able to focus their writing and describe a small moment in about 4-5 sequenced sentences.
Description: In this story, a young girl spends the day running errands with her mom, while collecting many objects for her new green pocketbook.
Focus: Unit 1: Writing small moments (personal narrative from Lucy Calkins). Ransom demonstrates small moments in different settings throughout the book. She does a good job showing how writers focus on one setting/idea and capture the details in that one single moment.
Teach: W.1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal even order, and provide some sense of closure.
While reading the book, pause and discuss the setting on each page. Focus on how the character remains in one place and describes her surrounding in that one small moment. Review the 5 senses and ask students to recall the details. “What did she see? What did she smell? What did she hear? What did she say? What did she touch?” Tell students that we can imagine our whole life as a book, but we can focus on one page and share a small moment of our book, just the like author did. To conclude the lesson: Incorporate a visual from Lucy Calkins “X marks the Spot.” This does a good job starting students off with small moments.
Expected Outcome: Students will be able to focus their writing and describe a small moment in about 4-5 sequenced sentences.
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February 12, 2011I actually used this story for a mathematics lesson on money and practicing counting on. The story tells about the day of a young girl and her mother that have a day out. The young girl is so excited because she looks "grown up" with her big pocketbook on like her mom. They visit different places in the community and buy different things for her to fill her pocketbook with. Aside from math, this text could be used to create a great social studies lesson on places in the community.
June 20, 2008
This book is about a little girl and her trip to town with her mom. She takes along her big green pocketbook, which is empty. At each shop she and her mom stop at, she picks up small items that the store owner gives her. Fun little story, great illustrations, and nice message of showing thoughtfulness and gratitude at the end.
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June 26, 2011This is a great book for predictions. What do you think she will get next to put in her purse? Do you think she'll ever find her purse? It is a great book for social studies. You can talk about all the places that they visited during the day. Think of the possibilities of some extra purses in the dramatic play area.
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November 15, 2015This book tells the story of a little girl and her pocket book. She heads into town with her mother with an empty pocketbook. At each stop along the way she collects things in her pocketbook. A great activity with this book would be to have kids create a pocketbook (or bag for boys) and draw things that they may put in it.
November 17, 2009
This book is about girl who has lots of stuff in her pocketbook and then she loses it on the bus. She got it back in the mail from the bus driver. Then since she got crayons she drew a picture for her Mom and the bus driver. This book is about giving so I like this book. It is about being nice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2011
This book can be used to teach sequencing- what happened first, next and last. The main character the little girl goes on errands with her mother collecting things during the way students can connect when they went on trips and collected things along the way.
October 4, 2011
This book is good fro children to read to show them how even if something is terrible one minute, there is a way to fix it. It shows them to look for a solution instead of throwing a fit. This is also a good book to use while working on order of things like: first, second, then, and after.
January 5, 2012
31 months - Another thrift store buy for 50 cents. Drawings by Felicia Bond of "If You Give A..." series. The story is very matter of fact but really cute to watch the little girl go on an outing with Mom and fill her once empty pocket book with little souvenirs.
March 12, 2012
I remember wanting to have a day like that,...but then my life wasn't like that, so I couldn't...no, the latter is me thinking about it now. My little self didn't carer about that. Anyway, I just remember how much I loved it, and how I read it a thousand times....
May 21, 2016
This book has always been my daughter's favorite book. And it completely changed how I viewed running errands with my kids. Errands don't have to be a drudgery...through a kid's eyes, an errand day can become a day full of some of the best memories.
January 28, 2008
Cutest book for little girls!
June 12, 2009
great sensory book
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews