Clements, Andrew. Frindle. Illustrated by Brian Selznick. Scholastic, 1996. ISBN 9780439607278

If you are looking for a good author to help you introduce chapter books, Andrew Clements' books are classics. I wouldn't consider Frindle to be a very first chapter book (Nate the Great by Sharmat or Cam Jansen by Adler are excellent "first" chapter book reads), but this title by Clements is the next stepping stone. 

Nick, inspired by the idea of slang in language, decides that "frindle" is just as good a name for a pen as "pen", and sets out to discover whether he can drum up enough common usage of the word so as to have it added to the English dictionary. 

His teacher, a stout rule-follower and lover of the dictionary, demands that he not use the word in her classroom. Thus begins the challenge, and soon it grows beyond Nick to include classmates, parents, the school principal, a local paper, national news, a visit to late-night TV, and more. 

Personally, I went back and fourth on this story. I loved the cleverness of the plot and the engaging characters. Selzneick's illustrations helped drive the story, giving the characters more personality as well as keeping things kid-friendly. 

The main character, Nick, is one of those active boys that you can't help but love. He plays tricks and pushes people's buttons, but in the end you know he simply has an active mind searching for an entertaining outlet. 

What I did not appreciate was some of the portrayal of authority figures in the story. Nick, in his smiling, clever, way, was openly defiant to his teacher. Furthermore, his parents did little to address this issue. 

The saving element was the teacher in question. She was resilient, and understood Nick completely, even though he never knew it. In reality, she was playing the same games, and her clever moves are not revealed until the very end of the book. 

Frindle was written in 1996, so some of the objects and names will not resonate with children today. Things like print dictionaries, print newspapers, and "The David Letterman Show" won't have any significance. 

However, these elements do not detract from the story enough to make much of a difference, and the descriptions of the the dictionary and Nick's homework may even help children understand more about language and research.

Over-all, this was a good read. It kept me engaged, wanting to know how everything was going to turn out. And the ending didn't disappoint. 

Chapter Books

A good chapter book is hard to find. This, the reader's first introduction to long-form books, must have a quality mixture of entertainment, depth and reading challenge. If it is too wordy or deep, the young reader will give up. If it is too shallow or cheesy, he or she will lose interest just as easily. 

Here are three I just finished reading that I think do a pretty decent job of finding the Chapter Book sweet spot:

Bayars, Betsy. Keeper of the Doves. Puffin, 2004 
ISBN 0142400637

It is not an easy task for an author to write a story dealing with heavy subjects (family discord, mental illness, death) that is aimed at 7 to 10 year olds. However, Bayars does an excellent job of not only covering them, but embracing them as an intricate and necessary part of the story. What I loved about this book was that it came from the point of view of a child, as she would see it. Life just seems to come at her from nowhere (family members just show up. Mom is suddenly pregnant and about to give birth. Discoveries about her own story, told through other people...) and yet she has a playfulness and overall contentment throughout. 

Amie, the protagonist, has a way with words, and sees the world through her poems. This gives her a special connection to her father and grandmother, and allows her to notice many things others miss. Especially when it comes to the strange old man who lives on their property and takes care of the doves (whom her twin sisters are afraid of, and make up wild tales about). 

This story held my interest, and was not overly heavy. It would also be a great story to read aloud to younger readers who are not quite ready to tackle a Chapter Book on their own. 

Gannett, Ruth Stiles. My Father's Dragon. Illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett. CreateSpage, 2010 (originally published in 1948) ISBN 1453782052 

As an adult, this tale was a tad boring due to the predictive, redundant nature of the story. However, this redundancy is also a useful tool when creating a Chapter Book. Predictability is comforting, and often helps beginner readers push through when the text may seem long. 

Still, the characters were fun and interesting. A young boy ("my father" as the narrator of the story begins) finds a talking cat. His mother hates the cat and throws it out, but feeling sorry for the cat, the boy befriends him and agrees to go on an adventure on the cat's behalf in order to save a dragon who is enslaved by talking animals on a wild island. 

The creatures are creative, and as the boy meets set after set of them, each time he is afforded the opportunity to use his cleverness to outsmart them, and eventually save the dragon. The illustrations definitely help the story along, as some parts are a bit tough to grasp, and they also provide a bit of comic relief. 

  

 Evans, Douglas. Apple Island, or The Truth About
Teachers. Illustrated by Larry Di Fiori. Scholastic, 2002
ASIN: B000VHE3CI 

I loved this book! I found it highly entertaining, funny, and extremely clever. 

As a kid, did you ever think that there was no possible way your teachers were ever kids, or did normal things outside of school? They practically lived at school, right? And furthermore, they never seemed to age. Some were crabby, and some were nice, and that was that. 

In The Truth About Teachers, we discover that this is exactly right! Teachers come from an island, where half live on the nice side and half live on the crabby side. The island is full of school-isms: Chalk Mountain, "Shhhh" Canyon, Office Palace, where Prince Apple ("principal") lives, a Big Book Building where Miss Library rides her motorized sliding ladder from section to section and never sees the light of day...everything that defines school was created and exists on Apple Island. 

When a group of students are kidnapped to this island, it is up to one of them to discover the truth about teachers and find a way to bring them all home. A truly fun read.  

Staying Nine and Silver For General Washington

This month I couldn't decide which book to review, so I am doing two. Both are aimed at the same age range, but one is geared more towards a girl, while the other a boy would enjoy reading. 

While taking juvenile literature classes in grad school, I was vehemently told to stick to new books only. My professor explained that young children and tweens cannot identify with children from even a decade ago and, with the exception of classics, (which are usually read by older tweens and teens) I would be doing them a disservice by introducing them to older books. 

However, I feel that relevancy plays a huge part in this. If the book covers certain feelings, circumstances and truths that will not fade with time, it will not only stay relevant for today, but can also be a treasured volume to read. 

  

Conrad, Pam. Staying Nine. Illustrated by Michael Wimmer. HarperCollins, 1990 ISBN 0064403777


The reason this book is so appealing, is because it deals with a subject every child and tween experiences: that in-between stage, when one is no longer a baby, but not yet an adult. I distinctly remember these emotions. 

In one particular example, I remember stomping around the house, and my grandmother admonished me to "walk more like a young lady." At that moment, I felt an almost overwhelming desire to not become a "lady". I didn't want to grow up. I didn't want to stop being a kid who could climb trees and stomp around the house. However, it was also at that moment that I realized the hand of time could be stopped by no one. 

Heather, the young protagonist in this Chapter Book (suitable for readers who are not yet ready for a Novel, but too old for Easy Readers) does not want to grow up. She decides to try and stay nine by having an unbirthday party and wearing the same clothes as last year for the school picture, among other things. This causes conflict with friends at school who do not understand her need, but is offset by a supporting mother. (These moments, both humorous and somber, are enhanced beautifully with Wimmer's detailed pencil sketches.)

One fear of Heather's is that growing up will take the fun out of life. No more make believe, no more climbing up the door frames, and no more fun. However, in probably the best moment of the story, a 23 year old friend takes off her shoes and stealthily climbs up the door frame -- thus proving that you can choose to stay young in the ways that matter most to you. 

Meadowcroft, Enid LaMonte. Silver for General Washington: A Story of Valley Forge. Scholastic, 1974. ASIN: B000PC5CYM


I wanted to mention this title because, like the above title, I have a memory associated with it. To refute the idea that, unless a book is a classic, tweens and teens will not read older books, I remember my brother and I both reading Silver for General Washington more than a decade after it was first published. 

The only reason I read it was because my older brother said that he had loved it. I balked at first (it looked like a boring war book, and the cover art harkened back to the 70's -- SO old!) but since my brother insisted it was good, I decided to give it a go. 

It didn't take long before I was swept into the world of two cousins living at the time of the revolution. Their patriotism and decision to risk taking a a dangerous journey to retrieve their family's stash of silver, for the sole purpose of giving it to General Washington (in order to help with the war effort), was instantly appealing to me. 

Would I have taken such an adventure? Why did it mean so much to them? What must it have been like, to live during the time of the revolution?

The excitement of the story kept my interest, even though the protagonists were boys. In fact, by the end of the book, I longed to take such a journey on my own. My brother had been right: it was a good book!