This slice-of-life story concerns a timid girl who becomes friends with an outgoing classmate, a misunderstanding between them, and the lesson that “real friends find ways to make up.” Poor Lizzie Gardener—because her Coast Guard father is overseas, she has to move in with her grandmother and start a new school. Bashful and unassertive, this reticent third grader “was too shy to make a best friend” at the school she used to attend. Now seated between the beastly Brady Brootski who calls her Lizard, and a girl known as Ivana the Terrible, Lizzie knows how a mouse in a trap feels. Gossipy classmates Tiffy and Crystal befriend Lizzie and warn her to stay away from Ivana, rumored to be so tough that “she can turn you to stone with one stare.” Lizzie is happy to comply until her teacher makes Ivana her journal-writing buddy, and Lizzie discovers that she likes her unpopular classmate. The road to friendship, however, is fraught with potholes and Lizzie needs to find the courage to be a stalwart friend. Scott paints a true picture of the ups and downs of classroom life; her plot is slight and the outcome no surprise, but readers will be drawn to the jacket painting and the relaxed narrative style, peppered with humorous journal entries written from the two girls’ perspectives. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-6093-6
Page Count: 115
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
The poster boy for relentless mischief-makers everywhere, first encountered in No, David! (1998), gives his weary mother a rest by going to school. Naturally, he’s tardy, and that’s but the first in a long string of offenses—“Sit down, David! Keep your hands to yourself! PAY ATTENTION!”—that culminates in an afterschool stint. Children will, of course, recognize every line of the text and every one of David’s moves, and although he doesn’t exhibit the larger- than-life quality that made him a tall-tale anti-hero in his first appearance, his round-headed, gap-toothed enthusiasm is still endearing. For all his disruptive behavior, he shows not a trace of malice, and it’ll be easy for readers to want to encourage his further exploits. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-48087-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
Small, a very little fox, needs some reassurance from Large in the unconditional love department. If he is grim and grumpy, will he still be loved? “ ‘Oh, Small,’ said Large, ‘grumpy or not, I’ll always love you, no matter what.’ “ So it goes, in a gentle rhyme, as Large parries any number of questions that for Small are very telling. What if he were to turn into a young bear, or squishy bug, or alligator? Would a mother want to hug and hold these fearsome animals? Yes, yes, answers Large. “But does love wear out? Does it break or bend? Can you fix it or patch it? Does it mend?” There is comfort in Gliori’s pages, but it is a result of repetition and not the imagery; this is a quick fix, not an enduring one, but it eases Small’s fears and may well do the same for children. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-202061-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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