conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is a description for a book titled Pie in the Sky about Reed, Kindergarten-Grade, Readers with the genre: Children's Books, Early Learning? Start with the sentence 'Kindergarten-Grade 3-This engaging story with gorgeous artwork opens, "This tree was here when we moved in'.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Kindergarten-Grade 3-This engaging story with gorgeous artwork opens, "This tree was here when we moved in. Dad says it's a pie tree." Readers watch as it changes from bud to flower to fruit bearing. the author uses a variety of mediums in her collage illustrations, including acrylic and watercolor paints, colored pencils, crayons and pastels, and several types of paper. Each spread is an amazing work of art on its own, filled with beautiful birds, lush cherries, and vividly colored scenery. Pictures are exquisitely designed and laid out. Each spread includes a piece of the ongoing story (in large, bold font) and an "I spy" section that details items for children to look for (in smaller type, using more extensive vocabulary). This book can serve independent readers at several levels, and would make a wonderful read-aloud as well. It also supports curriculum units on different types of birds, seasonal changes, and cooking. An easy-to-follow recipe is also incorporated into the story. The attractive cover has actual steam holes cut into the pie, making it a visual and tactile treat. Children will clamor for <I>Pie in the Sky</I>.<I>-Corrina Austin, Locke's Public School, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is the first four paragraphs for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Pie in the Sky
  Barbie said, "All the neighbors know us, and are never surprised by anything we do." In the last fifteen minutes, we could run back to the Goldmans' house and look for what we hadn't been able to find (but there was no guarantee that any of these things was there) or we could keep combing the neighborhood—we had to vote which one to do. Kyle and Stella were on our team, also Billy, Maria, and Lucia. Mrs. Goldman shouted, "One, two, three, go!" and we ran out of the house, following either Barbie or Alexis. Alexis turned right and Barbie turned left. Almost as soon as we got into the street, Kyle bent down and plucked something. It was the sprig of rosemary. Barbie put it into her paper bag. Maria said, "Can we produce something ourselves, or do we have to find it?"
  Maria reached into her pocket and brought out a safety pin. Barbie smiled and dropped it into the bag. She said, "Only one minute gone."
  It became my job to go to the nearest front door and ask for a Cheerio. The lady was nice—she waved to Barbie and smiled—but no Cheerios, only Rice Krispies. As we were crossing to the next house, Kyle picked up an acorn; I knew from my seventh-grade mission project that having Kyle on your team was always an advantage. The high school kid at the next house had a Cheerio. Kyle then asked him for a Kleenex, which he also had, and Kyle wrapped the Cheerio in the Kleenex and put it in his pocket.
  It was Kyle who found the lug nut. We were walking along, and only Kyle was looking down. As we passed one car, he said, "I see one." It was lying on the ground, between the car's tire and the curb. He bent down and picked it up.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is five more paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Alana shook her head. She looked pretty miserable. After a moment, she said, "Sophia and I were real friends in fourth grade, and I guess third grade. I mean, we live next door to each other, and so my mom keeps thinking that it's just like it used to be, but I am allergic to dogs and I hate horses, so what do we have to talk about?"
  Alana smiled, but I hadn't realized that I was being funny. The things Stella, Gloria, and I talked about were mostly TV and magazines, which I saw when I went to Gloria's. Or music. At lunch we talked about the other kids or the teachers. Or homework, but only to say how boring it was; I supposed Kyle Gonzalez could have talked about how interesting homework was, but he didn't have anyone to talk to. Everyone at school had plenty of things he or she would not dare to talk about with anyone or, maybe, only with one other person. I had them, too.
  Miss Helmich came back in, and I saw the nurse go away. Miss Helmich said, "Well, she seems okay. She told Mrs. Beach that she had missed breakfast. I called her mother."
  She wrote on a little pad, then handed us each a note. That was the last we saw of Sophia for that week.
  On Saturday, we got to the stable in time for me to go with Melinda from the parking lot to the barn. I asked her if she was feeling better.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Swap the first and the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: I asked her if she was feeling better. She looked pretty miserable. After a moment, she said, "Sophia and I were real friends in fourth grade, and I guess third grade. I mean, we live next door to each other, and so my mom keeps thinking that it's just like it used to be, but I am allergic to dogs and I hate horses, so what do we have to talk about?"
  Alana smiled, but I hadn't realized that I was being funny. The things Stella, Gloria, and I talked about were mostly TV and magazines, which I saw when I went to Gloria's. Or music. At lunch we talked about the other kids or the teachers. Or homework, but only to say how boring it was; I supposed Kyle Gonzalez could have talked about how interesting homework was, but he didn't have anyone to talk to. Everyone at school had plenty of things he or she would not dare to talk about with anyone or, maybe, only with one other person. I had them, too.
  Miss Helmich came back in, and I saw the nurse go away. Miss Helmich said, "Well, she seems okay. She told Mrs. Beach that she had missed breakfast. I called her mother."
  She wrote on a little pad, then handed us each a note. That was the last we saw of Sophia for that week.
  On Saturday, we got to the stable in time for me to go with Melinda from the parking lot to the barn.Alana shook her head.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is the last three paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: After five days, I still felt good, though, and what good felt like was that I could think about Peter Finneran without grinding my teeth. I could see that he had his ideas, and they were meant to work in a certain way, and the real problem when I took Blue to his clinic was that Blue wasn't ready for Peter Finneran's ideas. He knew some things, but not enough things. Who had been prideful? Well, me, for one. Without knowing anything about what Peter Finneran was going to do, I expected to do it all perfectly, and for everyone to admire Blue, and me as well. Maybe I had been going to the clinic not to learn but to show off.
  And there was another thing about pride, I realized. If you were really having fun, then you didn't have time to be proud. I guess even Sophia had learned that. But even if she hadn't, she had had some fun, and I thought we both would always remember that better than we would remember the bad times.
  That night, before I went to bed, I went out to check on the horses and give them a last bit of hay. When Blue and Jack came over to the fence, I said, "Let's start over. Whatever we do now, we do it because we like to do it."