Cranky Chicken and Speedy the worm explore parties in their latest adventure.
Another delightful grumpy/sunshine buddy book starring Cranky Chicken and Speedy. The sass is a little stronger in this one, and I cackled more than once.
If you are looking for a book kids and their grownups can enjoy, this series is a winner!
*♥♥♥♥½ = I loved it! Would re-read.
[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Picture Window Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
This is the first book in the Emma Every Day series. Emma is 8 years old and lives with her mom, dad and older brother. Emma is Deaf. She uses a cochlear implant to help her hear as well as using American Sign Language to communicate to others.
In this book, Emma is getting ready to go to her best friend Izzie’s birthday party. But she’s feeling nervous.
This is a cute early chapter book that includes a finger spelling guide, some finger-spelled words in the text of the story, a glossary and signs in the back matter, as well as ideas of things to write about and things to talk about. These extra features are some of my favorite parts of the book.
This is the first of four books. In the other three Emma goes on a field trip, heads to the apple orchard, and learns to dance.
This has a simple and sweet story with a low level of conflict and a fun layout. I enjoyed Emma’s honesty about anxiety – worrying about her dress, if she will know anyone at the party, and if the party will be too noisy for her to hear and communicate with others. Everything works out pretty easily in the end.
[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Amulet Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Princess Miranda is about to start third grade, and she’ll be going to school for the first time ever. Her castle tutor has finally retired (maybe several years later than she should have). Her teacher seems nice enough, but Princess Miranda would rather still be at home.
Maude Kaye is joining the same third grade class as Princess Miranda. She’s highly verbal and describes herself as a “social justice advocate.”
The girls don’t hit it off. Maude always has several hard boiled eggs with her for lunch, and Princess Miranda finds the thought of them disgusting, much less the smell. Maude thinks Princess Miranda believes she’s better than everyone. And Princess Miranda is overwhelmed by school and standardized testing and feeling completely unprepared academically for school.
The tension comes to a head when Princess Miranda starts handing out birthday party invitations and sees Maude has been drawing and writing about her in her class journal. So she refuses to invite Maude to her party. And Maude knows she is the only one left out.
At it’s core, this is a story about misunderstandings and faulty assumptions getting in the way of friendship. It’s easy to see things from the perspective of each of the girls. Readers just have to wait until the girls work out their misconceptions.
There’s an opportunity here for readers to learn empathy for Princess Miranda and her struggles at school. They can also see that for every behavior (for example Miranda is always at school early), there are several possible motives (Maude assumes it is because she is trying to flaunt the rules because she is better than everyone else. In truth, she is there for extra help.). Readers can also see how alike the girls can be – and how they can help one another – once they give it a try.
There are hints at a deeper story – like the kids who bonded over the loss of their parents, the solidarity of the kids when Maude tells them she wasn’t invited to the party – that might develop in future books.
This is a solid early chapter book /transitional chapter book for kids ready to stretch their new reading skills into longer stories. This is book one in the Miranda and Maude series.
