The Most Magnificent Thing is a most magnificent book! It's the story of a little girl and her dog that make plans for a new invention. She has a vision, but things aren't going exactly as planned. When things go from bad to worse she gets quite frustrated. Her friend the dog suggests a walk. When she calms down and looks at things from a different perspective things might just be ok.I would use The Most Magnificent Thing in my school as a read aloud for children in kindergarten to grade 3. Aside from being a fun story with great pictures, which it really is, it can be very useful to teach many lessons. Just the other day a grade 3 teacher asked me for a book on someone having a very bad day that escalates to a blow up and then a cool off. This would be perfect! It can be used to teach students to look at things from a different perspective. Perhaps students could draw a picture of something they would invent. There is also a lesson about how hard work pays off.
The author's name was quite familiar and when I looked at her book list I see I have read many of her books. Also, many of Ashley Spires' previous titles are past nominees from the Forest of Reading Blue Spruce category. I suspect The Most Magnificent Thing will be appearing on the nomination list next year.