STAIR At Home March Book of the Month: The Most Magnificent Thing

Every month, STAIR staff thoughtfully selects the STAIR At Home Book of the Month. Each STAIR At Home student receives their very own, brand new copy of this book in addition to the other titles included in their monthly book packages. Students and volunteers use the Book of the Month to guide their discussions in our monthly STAIR At Home virtual Book Clubs.

The March Book of the Month is The Most Magnificent Thing, written and illustrated by Ashley Spires.

One day, a little girl has a great idea: She's going to build The Most Magnificent Thing. She knows exactly what it will look like, exactly how it will work, and she makes things all the time. How hard could it be? She enlists the help of her trusty canine assistant and gets to work. Unfortunately, things don't go according to her plans and the girl gets really, really frustrated. Angry, even. Her faithful assistant convinces her to take a walk to calm down and when they return to their work, the girl is feeling much, much better. So much better, in fact, that she is able to create her Most Magnificent Thing!

This sweet picture book by award-winning children's author and illustrator Ashley Spires helps kids understand that having big feelings is a normal part of growing and learning and that not giving up can have really great rewards. It's an important lesson in creativity, perseverance, and overcoming obstacles for young readers in the early stages of developing emotional maturity.

The Most Magnificent Thing is also a fantastic introduction to the world of S.T.E.M education--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The girl tinkers and fidgets and measures and hammers and fastens her way to creating her thing. She experiments, she tests, she tweaks, and she tries again. The book presents young readers with lots of S.T.E.M.-related vocabulary in a funny, engaging way that's easy to understand. Spires' beautiful illustrations help kids make connections between the new words they're reading and concepts they may already know. 

It's been such a pleasure to share this book with students in our STAIR At Home Book Clubs this month. The kids have really enjoyed discussing it and we've had some excellent conversations about what each of the girl's inventions might do, what students would build for their own Most Magnificent Thing, and how good things can happen when you don't give up!

You can read more about Ashley Spires here or visit www.ashleyspires.com.

We'll have more to share next month, when we introduce our April Book of the Month: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson.