bookshelf

ON THE BUS WITH JOANNA COLE

Name: ON THE BUS WITH JOANNA COLE
Author: Joanna Cole
ISBN: 0-435-08131-4

by Joanna Cole & Wendy Saul & illustrated by Joanna Cole ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 20, 1996

bookshelf

A grand autobiography in the Creative Sparks series that is both accessible and entertaining. Cole, who has created so many funny characters (such as those found in her Magic School Bus series) is good company in her own right. Cole begins by talking about her father, a dyslexic who had trouble reading but loved to talk and debate; he imparted to her a sense of wonder and deep gratitude for the ability to read. Readers get a real sense of the person behind the books and are also introduced to the process of writing: Cole talks about the similarity between preparing a report and a book and explains that she begins by reading and absorbing information long before she plans what to say or prepares an outline. As with her books, the points are made through her enthusiasm for sharing information rather than as lessons. It is fun to be behind the scenes with the Magic School Bus books, too. The illustrations are primarily from Cole's books, but there are also photographs of her and the people with whom she works. A book as appealing as any Cole has written, good for recreational readers and report-writers alike. (Autobiography. 10-13)

Pub Date: May 20, 1996

ISBN: 0-435-08131-4

Page Count: 56

Publisher: Heinemann

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST FRIEND PLAN
by Stephanie Calmenson & Joanna Cole ; illustrated by James Burks

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS AND THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE
by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen

- BOOK REVIEW
MS. FRIZZLE’S ADVENTURES
by Joanna Cole & illustrated by Bruce Degen

bookshelf

A YEAR DOWN YONDER

From the Grandma Dowdel series , Vol. 2

by Richard Peck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2000

Year-round fun.

bookshelf

Set in 1937 during the so-called “Roosevelt recession,” tight times compel Mary Alice, a Chicago girl, to move in with her grandmother, who lives in a tiny Illinois town so behind the times that it doesn’t “even have a picture show.”

This winning sequel takes place several years after A Long Way From Chicago (1998) leaves off, once again introducing the reader to Mary Alice, now 15, and her Grandma Dowdel, an indomitable, idiosyncratic woman who despite her hard-as-nails exterior is able to see her granddaughter with “eyes in the back of her heart.” Peck’s slice-of-life novel doesn’t have much in the way of a sustained plot; it could almost be a series of short stories strung together, but the narrative never flags, and the book, populated with distinctive, soulful characters who run the gamut from crazy to conventional, holds the reader’s interest throughout. And the vignettes, some involving a persnickety Grandma acting nasty while accomplishing a kindness, others in which she deflates an overblown ego or deals with a petty rivalry, are original and wildly funny. The arena may be a small hick town, but the battle for domination over that tiny turf is fierce, and Grandma Dowdel is a canny player for whom losing isn’t an option. The first-person narration is infused with rich, colorful language—“She was skinnier than a toothpick with termites”—and Mary Alice’s shrewd, prickly observations: “Anybody who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.”

Year-round fun. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000

ISBN: 978-0-8037-2518-8

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST MAN
by Richard Peck

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MOUSE WITH THE QUESTION MARK TAIL
by Richard Peck ; illustrated by Kelly Murphy

- BOOK REVIEW
SECRETS AT SEA
by Richard Peck illustrated by Kelly Murphy

bookshelf

A WEEK IN THE WOODS

by Andrew Clements ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2002

bookshelf

Playing on his customary theme that children have more on the ball than adults give them credit for, Clements (Big Al and Shrimpy, p. 951, etc.) pairs a smart, unhappy, rich kid and a small-town teacher too quick to judge on appearances. Knowing that he’ll only be finishing up the term at the local public school near his new country home before hieing off to an exclusive academy, Mark makes no special effort to fit in, just sitting in class and staring moodily out the window. This rubs veteran science teacher Bill Maxwell the wrong way, big time, so that even after Mark realizes that he’s being a snot and tries to make amends, all he gets from Mr. Maxwell is the cold shoulder. Matters come to a head during a long-anticipated class camping trip; after Maxwell catches Mark with a forbidden knife (a camp mate’s, as it turns out) and lowers the boom, Mark storms off into the woods. Unaware that Mark is a well-prepared, enthusiastic (if inexperienced) hiker, Maxwell follows carelessly, sure that the “slacker” will be waiting for rescue around the next bend—and breaks his ankle running down a slope. Reconciliation ensues once he hobbles painfully into Mark’s neatly organized camp, and the two make their way back together. This might have some appeal to fans of Gary Paulsen’s or Will Hobbs’s more catastrophic survival tales, but because Clements pauses to explain—at length—everyone’s history, motives, feelings, and mindset, it reads more like a scenario (albeit an empowering one, at least for children) than a story. Worthy—but just as Maxwell underestimates his new student, so too does Clement underestimate his readers’ ability to figure out for themselves what’s going on in each character’s life and head. (Fiction. 10-12)