“Sitting in my box” by Dee Lillegard

by Paola Barros

“Sitting in my box” is a didactic and catchy story about a young boy who is enjoying a book called “Wild animals” while sitting alone in a cardboard box. This story was written by Dee Lillegard and illustrated with colorful and attractive drawings made by Jon Agee.

The young boy is sitting inside a cardboard box reading an animal book. While reading, he imagines that animals come one by one and invite themselves to sit in the box with him. The problem commences when the box in which all of them are sitting gets more and more crowded. Eventually, there is no more space and a flea comes along and clears all of them out of the box.

This story can be used not only for teaching vocabulary about animals but also for making students develop a bit more their imagination. The development of their imagination will help them to be creative when reading stories. Moreover, they will be able to turn any ordinary object into a scene in which all kind of amazing, curious and unexpected adventures can happen. The simple and short sentences in this story make it easy to follow, to understand and enjoyable to read for children. Another good feature of “Sitting in my box” is the fact that it is a good tool for teachers to illustrate to their students the notion of space in a certain place.

In brief, the book is highly recommendable for young students who begin the joyful journey into the reading world. Above all, I suggest not only teachers but also parents to take into account this attention-getting story for reading their students or children, respectively. The story will surely become the favorite for every young reader since they won’t get tired of reading it over and over again.