The Little Red Pen

The Little Red Pen

Janet Stevens & Susan Stevens Crummel

Help!  A mountain of papers need to be graded!  Only Little Red Pen is willing to tackle the enormous undertaking.  The rest of the school supplies hide in the desk.  Then the unthinkable happens; Little Red Pen falls into the Pit of No Return (the trash can).  Can her fellow-supplies pull together in order to save her?  

Last May, I read this story to a variety of elementary students.  Older kids realized right away that The Little Red Pen is very loosely based on the classic folk tale The Little Red Hen.  Like the animals in the barnyard, the school supplies refuse to respond to Little Red Pen's pleas for help by answering "not I".   All of the supplies have excuses.  In The Little Red Pen, Sisters Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel creatively teach students that working together can be productive and fun.  Check out The Little Red Pen book trailer that I found on YouTube:

 

And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

Holy Cow (that jumps over the moon)!  Dish and Spoon are missing!  Every character that plays a part in the famous children's nursery rhyme are out searching for Dish and Spoon.  Where can they be?  With the help of other nursery rhyme characters, the team sets off to find their famous friends.  After all, the  show can't go on without them!  

Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel take the traditional nursery rhyme and fracture it to pieces.  I love the way they play with words and give familiar fairy tale characters modern voices.  Delightful! For example, the band of characters meet an actual Fork in the road who gives them an idea of where to find Dish and Spoon.  Also, the little dog from the nursery rhyme can't hang around Little Boy Blue for too long because he has a terrible case of hay fever, and the hay stack that doubles as Little Boy Blue's bed makes the canine sneeze uncontrollably.  The twisted fairy tale will entertain readers of all ages.  Finally, the illustrations make the story even more enjoyable.  Make sure to study the maps sprinkled throughout the story.  And The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon is one of my favorites...an instant classic that will be enjoyed for years to come.  

A Season of Gifts

A Season of Gifts

Richard Peck

A Season of Gifts tells the story of twelve-year-old Bob and his family who have just moved to a rural Illinois town.  Their neighbor just happens to be a grouchy old woman named Mrs. Dowdel.  Although Mrs. Dowdel makes it clear that she "doesn't neighbor", she helps each member of Bob's family as they adjust to their new community.  

The very first paragraph of A Season of Gifts captured my attention.  

You could see from here the house was haunted.  Its crooked old lightning rods pointed bony fingers at the sky.  It hadn't had a lick of paint since VJ Day, maybe the war before that.  A porch sagged off the side.  The kitchen screen door hung from a hinge.  Only the snowball bushes crowding its foundations seemed to hold the place up.

The dilapidated shack in the story belongs to Mrs. Dowdel, the rough, tough and larger than life elderly lady that claims to be "no church woman." The house seems to reflect her temperament.  Throughout the story, however, we learn that Mrs. Dowdel is kind-hearted and truly loves her community. She believes in justice and helping those in need. In fact, she gives special gifts to each member of Bob's family.  Although these gifts are not tied up in pretty packages and delivered on Christmas morning, they are life-lessons that help Bob and his family appreciate the selfless acts of kindness that come from an unlikely source.  

Filled with humor and heartwarming moments, A Season of Gifts is a must-read.  Grandma Dowdel is also featured in Peck's  A Year Down Yonder and A Long Way from Chicago.  I can't wait to read more about this unconventional bighearted character.

All in One Hour

All in One Hour

by Susan Stevens Crummel

Concept and Pictures by Dorothy Donohue

A lot can happen in one short hour.  When a mouse nibbling a cookie wakes a sleeping cat, chaos ensues.  The Cat chases the mouse, the dog chases the cat and then the group is joined by a dog catcher, a bank robber and a policeman. In the style of "This is the House that Jack Built", Stevens-Crummel takes readers on a high-speed chase!  How will it end?

Without question, Dorothy Donohue's amazingly detailed paper cut-outs bring this simple rhyming tale to life.  During kindergarten story time, students want to study the pictures on each page.  They also enjoy the rhythm of the story and beg for a second (or even third) reading.  Simply stated, All in One Hour is FUN!

Help Me, Mr. Mutt!

Help Me, Mr. Mutt!  

Expert Answers for Dogs with People Problems

by Susan Stevens Crummel and Janet Stevens

Attention all dogs!!  Not enough food?  Too many baths? Ignored by your owners?  Dogs that need help with their humans can contact Mr. Mutt, the "Dear Abby" of the canine kingdom.  Mr. Mutt offers great advice that will have human readers laughing out loud...but watch out for the cranky cat!  The Queen, who sees herself as kitty-cat royalty,  doesn't like Mr. Mutt's sarcastic cat comments, and she's looking to shut down his advice column!

Susan Stevens Crummel read Mr. Mutt to our elementary students when she visited our campus last year.  Mr. Mutt was a crowd favorite!  Pay particular attention to the creative illustrations within Mr. Mutt's  letters.  Students of all ages, especially dog-lovers, will enjoy Help Me, Mr. Mutt!

The Great Fuzz Frenzy

The Great Fuzz Frenzy

by Susan Stevens Crummel and Janet Stevens

What happens when a tennis ball falls into a prairie dog den?  These prairie dogs don't  play tennis, but they sure like ball's yellow fuzz.  They twist it, braid it and parade it!  IT'S THE GREAT FUZZ FRENZY!  However, after the fuzz runs out, it's every dog for himself.  Can these prairie dogs learn to work together to save their community?

Susan Stevens Crummel visited our elementary school last year.  The kids love this book, and it's often requested. In fact, we created an entire kindergarten lesson about community and the importance of working together.  Great book! 

Sherlock Bones and the Missing Cheese

Sherlock Bones and the Missing Cheese

by Susan Stevens Crummel

Illustrated by Dorothy Donohue

Oh no!  The cheese is missing from the Dell!  Who can help?  Why, Sherlock Bones of course!  This brilliant bloodhound uses all five senses to track down the well-known thief. You'll have to read the book to find out which famous fairy tale villain  stole the big cheese!  Children familiar with The Farmer in the Dell will recognize the characters from the classic children's song while they help Sherlock Bones solve the case and save the day.

Sherlock Bones is a cute story, and I love the cut-paper artwork by Dorothy Donohue.  Her talent truly brings the story to life.  Visit her website to view more of her phenomenal creations: http://dorothydonohue.com/.  I could see this book being used by younger grades when learning the five senses.  

Are You in the House Alone

Are you in the House Alone?

Richard Peck

Richard Peck's Are You in the House Alone is the ultimate teen thriller.  Gail Osborne is an average high school student.  She has a boyfriend and a best friend.  She goes to school during the week and babysits on Saturday nights.  Her life is turned upside down when she finds a vulgar threatening note in her locker.  She is afraid to answer the phone because her stalker seems to know when she's alone.  Someone is watching her, and they want to hurt her.  How will Gail survive?

Although written in 1976, Are You in the House Alone stands the test of time.  On the surface, the book's plot seems like a typical Hollywood suspense flick.  In fact, Dennis Quaid and Blythe Danner star in the movie adaptation of the book:  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077174/ ).  However, on a deeper level, the book shows how a small conservative town deals with a young girl's sexual assault when the rapist happens to be the son of the wealthiest family in town.  

A short video clip from the 1978 movie:

The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts

Richard Peck

Russell Culver can't believe his luck!  The teacher of Hominy Ridge School died over the summer.  With any luck, school will close forever!  Unfortunately, his big (no pun intended) sister becomes the new teacher.  Can Russell and the other students live up to her expectations?  Will any of Miss Tansy's suitors win her heart?  The misadventures of Miss Tansy and her eight pupils will have readers howling.  If the walls of this one-room country school house could talk, the town would never be the same.

I grabbed The Teacher's Funeral from my school's library shelf on the way out the door last week.  It took me a few chapters to 'bond' with Russell and his family, but I'm glad I kept reading.  A snake in the teacher's desk, Fat Aunt Fanny getting stuck in a ditch and the older male pupils fighting for Miss Tansy's heart made me laugh out loud.  I kept trying to imagine these colorful characters in a made-for-TV movie.  What a fun book!

On the Wings of Heroes

On the Wings of Heroes

Richard Peck

It's World War II, and Davy's world has changed drastically.  His brother is off training to fly B-17s, women (including teachers) are taking jobs to suppor the war effort and instead of playing tag with everyone in the neighborhood, Davy and his pal are collecting paper and other scarps to support the war effort.  While Richard Peck's On the Wings of Heroes illustrates the hardships faced by Americans on the homefront during World War II, the novel also gives readers a glimpse of  Davy's amusing boyhood mishaps as he grows up during this turbulent time in history.

I really enjoyed On the Wings of Heroes.  Each chapter could stand alone as a short story. In fact, several evenings before bedtime, I would reread my favorite chapters to my nine-year-old son so he could share in Davy's misadventures.  He belly-laughed over the school bomb drill where Beverly, the rotund classroom bully, got lodged under her desk:

            She was wedged in there tight as a tick, with parts of her bulging through 

            the scrollwork sides.    There wasn't a cubic inch under the desk that wasn't 

            Beverly.  She tried to move, but she was down for the duration.

Without question, Peck gives an accurate history lesson while entertaining readers with his expert story-telling skills.  As a former history teacher, On the Wings of Heroes is my favorite Peck novel thus far!

     

    

Three Quarters Dead

Richard Peck

What would you do to be popular?  Fifteen-year-old Kerry Williamson feels invisible at Pondfield High School.  Her best friend has gone to boarding school, and she has resorted to eating lunch alone at the end of the 'popular table' while she pretends to talk on her phone.  Suddenly, the three most popular girls on campus invite her to eat lunch with them.  Kerry senses that something isn't quite right, but she ignores her intuition in order to have friends and feel accepted.  Would you be willing to lose your identity and maybe even your life to part of the ‘in crowd’? 

I think Three Quarters Dead would appeal to middle school girls who like supernatural themed books (Did you know that Barnes and Noble actually has a “Teen Paranomal Romance” section?).  Throughout the novel, Kerry notices unusual occurrences, like time standing still so the girls can enjoy an extra long lunch, but she is so happy to be accepted by the ‘populars’ that she ignores all warning signs.  Kerry’s new ‘friends’ even convince her to carry out a cruel Halloween prank only to abandon her when things go wrong, but Kerry remains loyal to them.  Again, readers must ask themselves how far would they go to be popular.  

Although not my favorite Peck book, Three Quarters Dead does examine the all-too-real pressure of feeling accepted by your peers during high school.  Hopefully, Peck’s novel will inspire young girls to be true to themselves.  

Perhaps most importantly, Three Quarters Dead is a public service announcement for texting/talking while driving.  All three ‘mean girls’ die when Tanya slams into a tree while trying to phone Kerry while heading to the mall.  I guess texting and driving isn’t safe even if you’re supernatural.

The River Between Us--Richard Peck

RICHARD PECK

THE RIVER BETWEEN US

The River Between Us tells the story of the Pruitt family and the impact that the upcoming Civil War has on their lives. With his father gone, sixteen-year-old Noah Pruitt can’t wait to leave home and fight to preserve the Union.  His mother and two sisters, Tilly and Cass, fear the day that he ultimately joins the army. Cass is especially anxious because her powerful psychic visions allow her to see the bloody devastation that war will bring to their simple town of Grand Tower on the Mississippi River.  One evening, a boat from New Orleans unexpectedly arrives, and two mysterious female passengers disembark.  Every citizen is mesmerized by the glamorous Delphine and a young girl name Calinda that many suspect to be Delphine’s slave.  Everyone is shocked when Mrs. Pruitt invites the girls to stay with them until they can find their way to safety.  In no time, the townspeople begin to gossip.  Are the girls Confederate spies?  Are the Pruitts Southern sympathizers? Without question, when Delphine and Calinda enter the lives of the Pruitt family, things will never be the same.

As expected, Richard Peck’s historical fiction novel allows readers to view the horrors of the American Civil War.  Unexpectedly, however,  Peck also takes readers into the world of plaçage, an arrangement where wealthy white southern men took mistresses of African American descent.  Delphine explains the New Orleans custom to Tilly:

We cannot marry white men...The Spanish make a law against such marriage.  The French 

        make a law. There is a law now.  But New Orleans prefer its customs to the law.  Our white 

        fathers buy our mothers fine homes in all the best streets, in Chartres Street.  And if 

        there is a daughter, she is brought up by her mother to find a future with a white 

        gentleman of her own.  A man of substance.  We have a name for this.  It is plaçage.  

        A respectable arrangement.

When I selected The River Between Us, I never dreamed Peck would take readers on an adventure exploring a topic rarely discussed in young adult literature.  As a history major, I applaud his creativity.  

I enjoyed The River Between Us, but I wish Peck would have developed the unique character of Cass.  I found myself wanting to know more about her.  Perhaps in another book!