The Wheel on the School

 

What was your favorite vignette in this book? 

Julia (13): "My favorite is when the younger kids get stuck in the bell tower." 

Gabe (11): "I like the one where they push Janus's chair down to the teacher's house.. and all that." 

Evy (8): "I liked when they were getting the wheel out of the canal. It was kinda funny to me!" 

Daniel (6): "The last chapter. They saw the storks and the wheel was already on the roof. They held the storks and put them on the school roof." 

Michael (6): "I liked that the boy tried to get the wagon wheel from the farm."

The search for a wagon wheel brought so much more than storks to the townspeople of Shora. What else did they gain? 

Julia (13): "Janus was able to open up and play along with the kids, and they met a lot more people. Also   Shora helped and worked together making friendships."

Gabe (11): "Friendship, like Janus became friendly and stuff." 

Evy (8): "Friendship - especially with Janus." 

Mom's Notes: This is a book that has been on my shelf for a decade. And before that, it was on the shelf of my childhood home my whole life! I'm not sure how I missed this treasure, but I'm glad I know it now! Julia read this a few months ago and insisted we read it aloud. We love Shora! To think of all that came about because a few kids took some time to wonder about storks. There's so much goodness in this sweet, funny, adventurous story. The story of leg-less Janus getting a new chance at really living again is possibly my favorite part. We can't wait to visit Holland someday and marvel at the storks perched on rooftops in wagon wheel nests. I wish we were going next week! 

P.S. We haven't made it to the Netherlands yet, but we did see some "storks" on the roofs in Solvang!