I Wasn't Invited to the Party

I Wasn't Invited to the Party
Author: Susanna Kern
Illustrator: Adolfo Serra
Consortium Book Sales
China
ISBN: 978-84-944446-4-7
2016
$ 16.95
32 pages

"You can't always go to all the parties.  But this doesn't mean that we should be sad, and we shouldn't enjoy ourselves."
For all children, a birthday party is exciting.   When the invitations are delivered to each person in a class at school, the anticipation of each child is thrilling.  
However, what if one child is left out. 
Mark is not invited to the party.
The afternoon of the party, he goes into the park, but it appears vacated, even the birds are gone.
Surprisingly, Mark discovers two of his classmates also in the park who were not invited to the party.  Yuna and Adrian begin to climb a tree with Mark.
From their high perch, they quickly view the nearby sea which is rising rapidly around nearby buildings.
As the water levels increase, it becomes so deep that a whale who is wearing a tiny hat maneuvers itself to the tree.   He quickly offers the threesome a ride while picking up other children who were not invited to the party as they journey through the water.
The whale transports the children to a village in the clouds on a tall mountain.
The residents are animals dressed in clothes, wearing shoes, glasses, and watches.  These creatures are having a celebration since they were not invited to the ostrich's birthday party.
The children had so much fun that they had completely forgotten about the birthday party.
As night falls, the whale whistles to return the children to their homes.
Imagination is a wonderful thing.
Author Susanna Isern is a writer and child psychologist whose books have been translated into many languages.  She was awarded the Silver Medal in the Moonbeam Children's Books in 2013.
The illustrator, Adolfo Serra has won numerous awards for his beautiful illustrations.
Everyone is left out sometime in their life.   Making the best of any situation is the most positive and learning how to make lemonade when life gives you lemons.
I Wasn't Invited to the Birthday Party is for children from preschool to at least second grade, or older if exclusions are causing problems for children.   This book could easily be a fast read aloud in any elementary school classroom and continue with both journal writing and discussions.
The illustrations wonderfully match the text enhancing the story as it progresses making this an enjoyable book that can be read multiple times.