Short, short summary: Clementine is back and in third grade. She is finally “in sync” with her teacher, Mr. D’Matz (be careful how you say his name–you might accidentally say two bad words, according to Clementine). Her principal visits are fewer. But one day, Mr. D’Matz sends Clementine to get the principal who has a special announcement about the teacher. Mr. D’Matz could be selected to spend the rest of the school year in Egypt. But Clementine can’t believe her ears, and she doesn’t think much of this special announcement. Mr. D’Matz promised to do all sorts of fun activities with his third grade students; and if he leaves, he will be breaking his promise. So, when Clementine has an assignment to write a letter of recommendation for her teacher to receive this chance of a lifetime, she decides to write quite a letter. She even asks her parents how to spell, “Menace to Society.” In Clementine’s Letter, Sara Pennypacker writes a funny tale once again with lovable, quirky Clementine in the middle–still searching for vegetable names for her brother and trying to help her mom organize her art supplies.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Clementine is angry at Mr. D’Matz for breaking his promise; but as he explains, he didn’t know that he was going to be up for this award or given the chance to go to Egypt. Ask students to write in reading sreponse journals if they think Clementine should be angry at Mr. D’Matz. Do they agree that he broke his promise? Have they ever made a promise that they had to break? Has someone else ever made a promise to them that was broken? Should people be careful when they use the words, “I promise”? If you are reading this book with your child at home, have a discussion with him or her about promises. This is often a hot topic between kids and parents, and Sara Pennypacker’s book can help you get the conversation started.

2. When Clementine writes her letter, the reader does not know everything that she says, but it is easy to guess that she wrote a lot of bad things about her teacher. Ask students to use their prediction skills and predict what they think will happen to Mr. D’Matz and Clementine because of her letter. Will Clementine’s letter stop her teacher from going to Egypt? Will she get in trouble for writing this letter? Ask students to base their predictions on book details or personal life experiences.

3. In Clementine’s Letter, she visits an Asian-American grocery store to find more vegetable names for her brother. Based on what she calls her brother after her visit, what are some vegetables she found at the grocery store? Ask students to make a list. If you (and your students) are really brave, you could bring in some of these vegetables for children to try. If you are at home with your child, maybe you could visit a grocery store similar to the one Clementine goes to in Boston.

Have you and your child or students read Clementine’s Letter by Sara Pennypacker? If so, what are your thoughts? What discussions or activities did you do?

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com

Chapter book, contemporary (but written in the 1960s) fantasy
Young boy and Ralph the mouse as main characters
Rating: One of my favorite Beverly Cleary books. Ralph is absolutely endearing, and kids love him!

Short, short summary: Ralph lives in a mousehole in Room 215 in Mountain View Inn. When Keith and his parents become tenants there, Ralph is excited that Keith may leave some food around. But then Ralph sees even something more wonderful than food–a little, toy motorcycle. Ralph craves action and investigates the motorcycle when the room is empty. Unfortunately, he winds up in the trash can. Keith rescues Ralph, and they talk to each other. Ralph winds up riding the motorcycle around Mountain View Inn and has many exciting adventures for a little mouse. When Keith gets a fever, Ralph wants to help his new friend. And he knows just how to do it!

So, what do I do with this book?
1. Ralph and Keith develop a great friendship. This is a book you can use to discuss with your students or your child what makes a good friend. What are the characteristics of a good friend? Ask students to write in their journals about why Ralph and Keith have a good friendship. Ask them to make a personal connection with the book by comparing and contrasting one of their friendships with Ralph and Keith’s.

2. Cause and effect are easy to teach with The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Ask students to find several cause and effect pairs in the story. They can write the pairs in their reading journals, such as–Cause: Keith leaves out his motorcycle. Effect: Ralph climbs up to look at it. You can also ask students to find the effects of several causes you list for them. You can list causes such as: Cause: The telephone rings. Effect???? and so on.

3. Beverly Cleary wrote a sequel to this book, and your students can, too. At the end of the story, Ralph keeps his motorcycle. Ask your students to write a story about another adventure with Ralph and his motorcycle. Will your students be in the story, will they make up characters, or will they use the characters from the story? When your students are finished with their sequels, and if they are interested, you can let students know about the sequel–Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary.

If you have used this book with your students or with your children, please leave a comment here and let us know how it went. For more ideas about teaching reading, please check out Sound It Out.

If you have a suggestion of a book for me to read and review, please email me at margodll@aol.com or leave a comment here.

photo by aturkus at www.flickr.com

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com

Chapter book, contemporary mystery
Elementary school girl who is quite a mystery sleuth!
Rating: One of my favorite Cam Jansen mysteries!

Short, short summary: If you aren’t familiar with Cam Jansen, then go to the library and get familiar! She is a super sleuth and solves all sorts of mysteries with her photographic memory–(thus her nickname Cam, short for camera.) Kids love her, and they love to solve the mystery along with her. In this book, Cam and Eric go to a museum on a field trip. While at the museum, they notice there are some missing dinosaur bones, and they follow clues to find the thieves.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Keep track of any clues children find while reading the book. Give your students stickee notes while they are reading. Anytime they come across a clue, they should write it down on a stickee note. Before they read the last chapter, ask students to take all their stickee notes out of their books, put them in order, and read the clues. Can they solve the mystery before Cam and Eric?

2. Cam has a photographic memory. What does it mean to have a photographic memory? Ask students to define this term and either do research on real people who have photographic memories and how they use them OR students could write a journal entry where they pretend to have a photographic memory and how they would use it in their everyday lives.

3. This is a good book for character sketches. What are the traits of Cam and Eric? How are they alike or different? What does Mr. Adler do to make them seem like real people who you care about in this story? What about the thieves? What are their character traits? Discuss with your students which characters are more detailed and why.

If you have used this story with your students or child, please leave a comment here for others to read.

If you have a suggestion of a book for me to read and review, please email me at margodll@aol.com or leave a comment here.

photo by ten safe frogs, www.flickr.com