#polemic warning

*******polemic warning*******

*feel free to skip to the review*

This is a very difficult review for me to write because, while I love the title and subject of this book, I don't think I really like the book itself. In general, I do not like books that have precocious girls as the main characters. By precocious I mean girls with attitude. I appreciate the "girl power" and individuality and creativity that these girls possess, but their bossiness, big ideas, proclivity for trouble, and sometimes incorrect use of the English language rubs me the wrong way. I really want to like these books because I think that they are trying to speak to kids/girls on their own level about their own experiences. But ultimately, I think that the real life experiences of 8,9 and 10 year olds are on the whole pretty boring and not book worthy and the authors supplement this with antics that don't ring totally true for me. That being said, I feel awful revealing my true feelings because, while I dislike most of the books I highlighted in my Precocious Girls as Protagonists post, I know that millions of girls love these characters and consider them to be personal friends, and I know that these characters probably aren't the bad influences that I sneakingly suspect them of being and I absolutely DO NOT want to prevent a book from making it's way into a child's hand if it means the child will actually read it and be a book lover someday. I know, I know, sometimes you can and should read for fun, it doesn't always have to be high minded literature with a capital L that one reads. And, really, the only real danger in letting your daughter read one of these books is if the series turns into a 30 book juggernaut like the Junie B Jones Series and you are stuck with a 5th grader who still wants to read 2nd grade level books, which is rare. So, please take what I say with a grain of salt and, if you have any concerns about the influences a character in a book might have on your daughter, I strongly suggest you read the book first. But I think you should try to read most of what your kids read anyway...

****

With Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little, Peggy Gifford mines a very rich vein when it comes to character flaws - procrastination. Moxy is nine and going to enter fouth grade on August 24. The book takes place on August 23rd as she attempts to finish Stuart Little, her assigned summer reading. The story follows Moxy as she procrastinates her way through the day, despite the consequences her mother has outlined for her, culminating with missing the Great Daisy Routine that she and seven other girls are performing at the "End of the Summer Splash" at the community pool. Her avoidance, along with her increasingly crazy ideas and plans, escalates as the hours pass. She is joined by as cast of characters that includes her twin brother Mark, who is teaching himself photography (having read Stuart Little on the first day of vacation) and his pictures of the events of the day are scattered throughout the book. There is also little sister Pansy, best friend/neighbor/minion to Moxy, the six year old Sam, as well as the dogs Rosie and Mudd.

As a parent, I admire Gifford's depiction of Moxy's mother. I found her to be very human as she struggled with disciplining, threatening and cajoling this child into reading the book. The photo of Martha Maxwell after discovering the destruction of her prized dahlia garden due to one of Moxy's schemes and delegation of the work to others is very read lookling. I am sure I've seen this woman at the grocery store or out infront of the school. I found Moxy to be sometimes funny and sometimes over the top. Her relationship with Sam and the way he did whatever she told him to, while also keeping track of her, and the fact that he was only six was a little strange to me. Also, it really bothered me that, as a nine year old, Moxy had a cell phone that she used for things other than emergencies. Aside from the photographs of documenting Moxy's day, which are pretty unique in the world of chapter books, are the chapters themselves. Each one is titled and no more than 3 -4 pages long, sometimes only one page, and the titles are often repeated in the first lines of the chapter. Chpater 7, which is titled, "In Which Moxy's Mother Says No," consists of the word, "No." This is entertaining for a while, but it got old pretty fast for me.

***polemic warning***

*feel free to skip to the review*

I have always thought of the George and Martha series as picture books, but, as I research and write this blog is see the value of looking at old things in new ways. The main purpose of my blog is to introduce parents of emerging readers to great chapter books that they may not know about as well as to discuss theory and practice in the world of reading. As I scour my bookshelves as well as those at work, I am finding that there are alarmingly few chapter books written at or below a 2nd grade reading level. My emphasis is on chapter books because, while I love picture books and could name ten off the top of my head that would be considered 5th grade reading level, after working in the kid's department for 13 years and watching the trends in publishing and purchasing, kids who have just learned how to read usually do not want to be seen reading a picture book. They want chapter books. Not easy reader books. CHAPTER BOOKS. Thus, the dilemma of what to review...

When I post a reading level along with the book title, it is the reading level that I think the book warrants, not necessarily what the publisher lists on the back of the book and rarely what Renaissance Learning a company that makes and sells the "Accelerated Reader" computer tests to schools, attributes to a book. These tests ask the reader a series of multiple choice questions about a book that the child has read (or had read out loud to him/her) to determine comprehension. Both my kids have used this system, and I have tutored second graders in reading skills and worked with them on this system. I both like it and loathe it, but now is not the time or place to debate it. Regardless, if you follow the link to their site you can type in almost any kid's book title and, if they sell a test for it, you can see what reading level Renaissance Learning has decided to give a book. While scrolling their lists, I began to notice that there were almost no chapter books at a lower reading level. Thus, I am rethinking what I consider to be a chapter book and am reviewing George and Martha, which has CHAPTERS!!

*******

Like Arnold Lobel and William Steig, author of Abel's Island, James Marshall is a master at capturing the nuances of relationships in a very straightforward and often humorous way. He does this again and again in his George and Martha books, of which there are seven, each having five chapters. If you can splurge for a hardback, I highly recommend the all-in-one that came out this month for a mere $20.00, George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends. In addition to all the stories, there are appreciations by some of the heavy-hitters in children's literature who cannot say enough good things about James Marshall, including Maurice Sendak, Jon Scieszka, and David Wiesner. Otherwise, all seven are available in paperback.

George and Martha are hippos who do everything together, including playing tricks on each other, going to the beach, and jump, or not, off the high dive at the local pool. In one story, George pours Martha's homemade split pea soup into his loafers when she isn't looking because he can't stand split pea soup and doesn't want to hurt her feelings. In another story, George is trying to read a book in a hammock when Martha asks is she can join him. George ascents and Martha agrees to be quiet, but cannot help fidgeting. George huffily moves to a new spot, away from Martha and reads the first page of his books which say, "It is important to be considerate." Feeling vindicated, he reads on, "Sometimes we are thoughtless without even knowing it." When George stomps back to the hammock but before he can share his new found advice with Martha, she apologizes for disturbing him and reveals that she was lonely. "I never considered that," says George and tells her that he got lonely, too. Then, they sit together and tell stories into the night, without fidgeting.

There is not a lot of description or big vocabulary words in the George and Martha books, but there is such poignancy and truth to what Marshall writes that his succinct style makes you appreciate even more the veracity of his stories.

The Hundred Dresses, written in 1944 and winner of the Newbery Honor, performs the amazing feat of teaching a "life lesson" without being didactic and dull. I put the phrase "life lessons" in quotes because it is  phrase that has been introduced into children's literature in the last generation or so and it rubs me the wrong way sometimes. I'll be honest, I loathe children's books that set out to teach "life lessons." Most celebrity authored picture books, besides the poor writing, are frequently moralistic and teach-y and advertise their "life lessons" right on the cover. While I do think that there is a book (or three) in the world that can address any and every life issue, I think that the value of the book lies in the ability of a book to capture an experience, to craft it into a story and to make you feel and think things that you didn't before you read it. In my experience, children's books that propose to teach a life lesson are devoid of these qualities. 

The Hundred Dresses tells the story of Polish immigrant, Wanda Petronski who wears the same faded but clean dress to school every day and is made fun of when she tells her classmates that she has one hundred dresses in her closet at home. When the winners of the class drawing contest are announced, the children learn that Wanda really did have one hundred dresses - one hundred drawings of dresses - and that she has won the competition. However, she cannot collect her medal because her family has moved to the big city. Mr Petronski sends a note to Miss Mason, the teacher, telling her that in the big city, "No more holler Polack. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in big city."

Series with girls as precocious main characters is an ever expanding category in the world of kid's books.  I just read and wrote my review for Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little in which I express my true feelings for books with precocious girls as main characters.  If you want the whole story, read my rant, but the bottom line is that I don't like them.  The are characters who get stories and attention for being kooky, quirky, obnoxious, difficult and/or messy.  While these are all valid, real life traits that, along with better character traits, deserve to be written about, I think that ultimately these books present these attention getting characteristics as perfectly normal and acceptable.  And this is valid as well.  However, as a kid and as an adult reader of kid's books, I prefer to read books about girls like Meg from A Wrinkle in Time, who was mousy and not so good at school and always getting in fights but has an out of this world encounter that requires her to move beyond these qualities and confront her fears and ideas about herself.  

These precocious girl books seem to exist mainly in the realm of 2nd - 4th grade reading level, maybe because these traits become unflattering in characters who are over 10 years old.  And, in all fairness, it would be very difficult to write a character like Meg Murray at a 2nd grade reading level.  I think it is just my nature to be suspicious of people and characters who can be described as spunky, sassy or misfits.  But, like I say in my rant, these books are not written for me and it is not my place to impose my tastes on others.  And, really, I can't think of anything so inherently wrong with these books that you should keep your daughters away from them.  They are, after all, several steps above the Hannah Montana chapter books currently taking up a whole shelf at the books store, followed by the High School Musical series that takes up half a shelf...

***polemic warning***

*feel free to skip to the review*

I have always thought of the George and Martha series as picture books, but, as I research and write this blog is see the value of looking at old things in new ways. The main purpose of my blog is to introduce parents of emerging readers to great chapter books that they may not know about as well as to discuss theory and practice in the world of reading. As I scour my bookshelves as well as those at work, I am finding that there are alarmingly few chapter books written at or below a 2nd grade reading level. My emphasis is on chapter books because, while I love picture books and could name ten off the top of my head that would be considered 5th grade reading level, after working in the kid's department for 13 years and watching the trends in publishing and purchasing, kids who have just learned how to read usually do not want to be seen reading a picture book. They want chapter books. Not easy reader books. CHAPTER BOOKS. Thus, the dilemma of what to review...

When I post a reading level along with the book title, it is the reading level that I think the book warrants, not necessarily what the publisher lists on the back of the book and rarely what Renaissance Learning a company that makes and sells the "Accelerated Reader" computer tests to schools, attributes to a book. These tests ask the reader a series of multiple choice questions about a book that the child has read (or had read out loud to him/her) to determine comprehension. Both my kids have used this system, and I have tutored second graders in reading skills and worked with them on this system. I both like it and loathe it, but now is not the time or place to debate it. Regardless, if you follow the link to their site you can type in almost any kid's book title and, if they sell a test for it, you can see what reading level Renaissance Learning has decided to give a book. While scrolling their lists, I began to notice that there were almost no chapter books at a lower reading level. Thus, I am rethinking what I consider to be a chapter book and am reviewing George and Martha, which has CHAPTERS!!

*******

Like Arnold Lobel and William Steig, author of Abel's Island, James Marshall is a master at capturing the nuances of relationships in a very straightforward and often humorous way. He does this again and again in his George and Martha books, of which there are seven, each having five chapters. If you can splurge for a hardback, I highly recommend the all-in-one that came out this month for a mere $20.00, George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends. In addition to all the stories, there are appreciations by some of the heavy-hitters in children's literature who cannot say enough good things about James Marshall, including Maurice Sendak, Jon Scieszka, and David Wiesner. Otherwise, all seven are available in paperback.

George and Martha are hippos who do everything together, including playing tricks on each other, going to the beach, and jump, or not, off the high dive at the local pool. In one story, George pours Martha's homemade split pea soup into his loafers when she isn't looking because he can't stand split pea soup and doesn't want to hurt her feelings. In another story, George is trying to read a book in a hammock when Martha asks is she can join him. George ascents and Martha agrees to be quiet, but cannot help fidgeting. George huffily moves to a new spot, away from Martha and reads the first page of his books which say, "It is important to be considerate." Feeling vindicated, he reads on, "Sometimes we are thoughtless without even knowing it." When George stomps back to the hammock but before he can share his new found advice with Martha, she apologizes for disturbing him and reveals that she was lonely. "I never considered that," says George and tells her that he got lonely, too. Then, they sit together and tell stories into the night, without fidgeting.

There is not a lot of description or big vocabulary words in the George and Martha books, but there is such poignancy and truth to what Marshall writes that his succinct style makes you appreciate even more the veracity of his stories.

The Hundred Dresses, written in 1944 and winner of the Newbery Honor, performs the amazing feat of teaching a "life lesson" without being didactic and dull. I put the phrase "life lessons" in quotes because it is  phrase that has been introduced into children's literature in the last generation or so and it rubs me the wrong way sometimes. I'll be honest, I loathe children's books that set out to teach "life lessons." Most celebrity authored picture books, besides the poor writing, are frequently moralistic and teach-y and advertise their "life lessons" right on the cover. While I do think that there is a book (or three) in the world that can address any and every life issue, I think that the value of the book lies in the ability of a book to capture an experience, to craft it into a story and to make you feel and think things that you didn't before you read it. In my experience, children's books that propose to teach a life lesson are devoid of these qualities. 

The Hundred Dresses tells the story of Polish immigrant, Wanda Petronski who wears the same faded but clean dress to school every day and is made fun of when she tells her classmates that she has one hundred dresses in her closet at home. When the winners of the class drawing contest are announced, the children learn that Wanda really did have one hundred dresses - one hundred drawings of dresses - and that she has won the competition. However, she cannot collect her medal because her family has moved to the big city. Mr Petronski sends a note to Miss Mason, the teacher, telling her that in the big city, "No more holler Polack. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in big city."

Series with girls as precocious main characters is an ever expanding category in the world of kid's books.  I just read and wrote my review for Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little in which I express my true feelings for books with precocious girls as main characters.  If you want the whole story, read my rant, but the bottom line is that I don't like them.  The are characters who get stories and attention for being kooky, quirky, obnoxious, difficult and/or messy.  While these are all valid, real life traits that, along with better character traits, deserve to be written about, I think that ultimately these books present these attention getting characteristics as perfectly normal and acceptable.  And this is valid as well.  However, as a kid and as an adult reader of kid's books, I prefer to read books about girls like Meg from A Wrinkle in Time, who was mousy and not so good at school and always getting in fights but has an out of this world encounter that requires her to move beyond these qualities and confront her fears and ideas about herself.  

These precocious girl books seem to exist mainly in the realm of 2nd - 4th grade reading level, maybe because these traits become unflattering in characters who are over 10 years old.  And, in all fairness, it would be very difficult to write a character like Meg Murray at a 2nd grade reading level.  I think it is just my nature to be suspicious of people and characters who can be described as spunky, sassy or misfits.  But, like I say in my rant, these books are not written for me and it is not my place to impose my tastes on others.  And, really, I can't think of anything so inherently wrong with these books that you should keep your daughters away from them.  They are, after all, several steps above the Hannah Montana chapter books currently taking up a whole shelf at the books store, followed by the High School Musical series that takes up half a shelf...

*******polemic warning*******

*feel free to skip to the review*

This is a very difficult review for me to write because, while I love the title and subject of this book, I don't think I really like the book itself. In general, I do not like books that have precocious girls as the main characters. By precocious I mean girls with attitude. I appreciate the "girl power" and individuality and creativity that these girls possess, but their bossiness, big ideas, proclivity for trouble, and sometimes incorrect use of the English language rubs me the wrong way. I really want to like these books because I think that they are trying to speak to kids/girls on their own level about their own experiences. But ultimately, I think that the real life experiences of 8,9 and 10 year olds are on the whole pretty boring and not book worthy and the authors supplement this with antics that don't ring totally true for me. That being said, I feel awful revealing my true feelings because, while I dislike most of the books I highlighted in my Precocious Girls as Protagonists post, I know that millions of girls love these characters and consider them to be personal friends, and I know that these characters probably aren't the bad influences that I sneakingly suspect them of being and I absolutely DO NOT want to prevent a book from making it's way into a child's hand if it means the child will actually read it and be a book lover someday. I know, I know, sometimes you can and should read for fun, it doesn't always have to be high minded literature with a capital L that one reads. And, really, the only real danger in letting your daughter read one of these books is if the series turns into a 30 book juggernaut like the Junie B Jones Series and you are stuck with a 5th grader who still wants to read 2nd grade level books, which is rare. So, please take what I say with a grain of salt and, if you have any concerns about the influences a character in a book might have on your daughter, I strongly suggest you read the book first. But I think you should try to read most of what your kids read anyway...

****

With Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little, Peggy Gifford mines a very rich vein when it comes to character flaws - procrastination. Moxy is nine and going to enter fouth grade on August 24. The book takes place on August 23rd as she attempts to finish Stuart Little, her assigned summer reading. The story follows Moxy as she procrastinates her way through the day, despite the consequences her mother has outlined for her, culminating with missing the Great Daisy Routine that she and seven other girls are performing at the "End of the Summer Splash" at the community pool. Her avoidance, along with her increasingly crazy ideas and plans, escalates as the hours pass. She is joined by as cast of characters that includes her twin brother Mark, who is teaching himself photography (having read Stuart Little on the first day of vacation) and his pictures of the events of the day are scattered throughout the book. There is also little sister Pansy, best friend/neighbor/minion to Moxy, the six year old Sam, as well as the dogs Rosie and Mudd.

As a parent, I admire Gifford's depiction of Moxy's mother. I found her to be very human as she struggled with disciplining, threatening and cajoling this child into reading the book. The photo of Martha Maxwell after discovering the destruction of her prized dahlia garden due to one of Moxy's schemes and delegation of the work to others is very read lookling. I am sure I've seen this woman at the grocery store or out infront of the school. I found Moxy to be sometimes funny and sometimes over the top. Her relationship with Sam and the way he did whatever she told him to, while also keeping track of her, and the fact that he was only six was a little strange to me. Also, it really bothered me that, as a nine year old, Moxy had a cell phone that she used for things other than emergencies. Aside from the photographs of documenting Moxy's day, which are pretty unique in the world of chapter books, are the chapters themselves. Each one is titled and no more than 3 -4 pages long, sometimes only one page, and the titles are often repeated in the first lines of the chapter. Chpater 7, which is titled, "In Which Moxy's Mother Says No," consists of the word, "No." This is entertaining for a while, but it got old pretty fast for me.