Publishing: Marshall Cavendish Children, New York, 2005
Awards: ALA Notable Children’s Book
Description: Willa and her sister live in a valley that needs the cool wind to bring the rains so that crops will grow. One particularly dry summer, Willa goes to the wind and complains. In payment, the wind gives her a magic handkerchief that produces food. Only, when Willa stops at an inn for the night, the innkeeper sees the magic and steals the handkerchief. The same happens with magic goat that produces money, and finally Willa discovers the innkeeper trying to steal her whistle. She re-claims her gifts and returns home.
Programming: Students could draw character sketches for Willa, The Wind, and the innkeeper, labeling the qualities they know about them from the book.
The Very Hungry Bookworm 