Last fall I taught a review writing residency to fourth graders. After students opened boxes and envelopes of children’s books that I’d collected for over six weeks, their mission was to “fall in love” with a book and review it solo or in small groups. Here are their reviews of four favorites.
Pigs Make Me Sneeze, Mo Willems (Hyperion, ages 4-7). Review by Joshua
Pigs Make Me Sneeze was witty, comical and will please younger kids who like animals with human characteristics. The book isn’t too long and doesn’t drone on and on.
In this humorous, exaggerated tale, an elephant named Gerald and his best friend, a nameless pig, are trying to decide what to do when all of a sudden…”aaa…aaa…choo!”
Do pigs make Gerald sneeze? Will Doctor Cat be able to help Gerald. I strongly recommend this book for kids seven and under it’s very simple, has no inappropriate language, or intense action whatsoever!
Show Off, Sarah Hines Stephan & Bethany Mann (Candlewick, ages 8 and up). Review by Emmy, Hannah, Caroline, & Allis
If you like to amaze, investigate, create, explore, cook, or just move, Show Off gives step by step instructions for over 200 exciting activities and tricks. You can learn how to tell time with a potato, sculpt snack art, mess with the computer, and more. The steps are easy and each has a drawing that demonstrates the activity. This book has so many adventures that amaze and entertain that we recommend this book for absolutely everybody. Caution! When children under the age of five are doing an activity from the book, it’s smart to have parent supervision. A good place to start is the table of contents, we bet you won’t stop there!
Eye-popping 3-D Pets, Barry and Betsy Rothstein (Chronicle, ages 8 and up). Review by Joe, Justin and Cameron
You should have seen the crowd of people in our class who wanted to read Eye-popping 3-D Pets. We understand why! Not all books come with 3-D pictures, and two pairs of 3-D glasses so that you can share with a friend. All kids will love the unusual pets in this book. Check out corn snakes that look like they’ll spring out and bite you and tarantulas that seem about to crawl right on your hand. You could own any one of these animals for a pet, but would you really want to tame a tarantula?
Guess Again! Mac Barnett (Simon and Schuster, ages 5-9). Review by Lauren and Alex
Do you like to challenge your brain? If so, you’ll love the book Guess Again! by Mac Barnett. The words will test your mind while Adam Rex’s illustrations give your brain a quiz. Every page starts with a rhyme and a picture that has a shadowy shape. You might think that the words and pictures are giving you a clue, but when you turn the page you’ll be surprised, confused, intrigued and…you’ll have to guess again! One rhyme and picture, for example, hint about a creature that’s furry, scurries and likes cheese. What do you think it is? If you guess a mouse you’ll have to guess again! This book is a mind-flipping, tricky book that will make you want to guess again and then read again!