Humor – Page 21 – Unleashing Readers

We are so happy to be hosting a stop on the Sidekicked blog tour! Walden Pond Press is such a fantastic publisher and we love being able to partake in the hype of their equally wonderful titles. Make sure that, after you stop by our tour stop, you visit the other stops: SIDEKICKED: The Superhero Blog Tour.

Today, for our blog tour stop, I (Kellee) will be reviewing Sidekicked and we’ll also be hosting a giveaway!

Sidekicked
Author: John David Anderson
Published June 25th, 2013 by Walden Pond Press

Summary: Andrew Bean was born with amazing abilities to sense things (hear, see, taste, touch and smell) better than anyone else on the planet. No wonder that he was recruited to be part of H.E.R.O. program at the middle school: an extracurricular “club” to prep students with super-powers to become the city’s superhero’s sidekicks. Andrew, along with five other extraordinary middle schoolers including Andrew’s best friend Jenna, join Mr. Martin three times a week to work on their powers and to prepare to be the best sidekick possible. Andrew’s only problem is that his superhero is MIA not even showing up to save him when he is hanging over a pool of acid. However, Andrew’s problem seems like nothing when supervillains escape from high security prison and begin rampaging their town–throwing the sidekicks right in the middle of a super-big problem.

My Review: What a super fun book! I love the concept of H.E.R.O. and how starting in middle school sidekicks are trained to be help to their superhero–talk about career track! This concepts lends to a great story because not only do you have the sidekicks/superhero aspect of the story, but you also are throwing these kids in the middle of middle school- major drama!

Right in the middle of this drama and action is Andrew. What a funny kid! I love his voice and his story. He is a perfect protagonist for this novel (I cannot even imagine the story being told from any of the other sidekick’s POV). He is a bit nerdy, a sweet boy, pretty sarcastic, friends with the the star sidekick, and has some seriously awesome powers (even if they aren’t physical). The nerdy/sweet/sarcastic part gives us a pretty snarky, fun narrator that many people will connect with. Being friends with the star sidekick gives us some insight into her life which is pretty darn exciting and also adds the strong female and a tiny bit of romance. Finally, his type of superpowers lends to the story being told because the whole book is about Andrew figuring out his spot in the mess around him and that includes empowering his superpowers.

OH, and just you wait for the last quarter. Holy plot twist Batman! I was very shocked about part of what transpires at the end and I think you and our students will be as well.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This book is definitely for all middle school classroom libraries! It will find great readership from all types of readers: Alex Rider fans to action/adventure fans to powerful female character fans. All you need to booktalk it, get it into a couple of students’ hands, and it will never be on the shelf. The book would also be great as a read aloud because it is fun and would lend to some great predictions and some discussions about right vs. wrong as well as the choices the characters make. It has humor and action enough to draw in an entire class!

Discussion Questions: Which of the sidekicks’ superpowers would you rather have? Why?; Which of the superheroes would you rather be a sidekick for?; Some superheroes think that they do not need a sidekick- what are your feelings? Is 2 better than 1?; Jenna asks (in Ch. 16) a pretty tough question- what makes someone a good person? After reading Ch. 16, discuss this question.

We Flagged: “It’s Tuesday. It’s Tuesday and I’m in costume, but just barely. That is to say that I have my mask and outfit on, so nobody knows who I am. Or almost nobody at least. Which pretty much sums up my life as a whole. It’s Tuesday, which means it is sloppy joe day in the cafeteria, which is bad enough, but that’s not the worth thing that can happen to you. It’s Tuesday- middle of September, only a month into the new school year- and I’m hovering over Justicia community poo, which two weeks ago was still filled with a dozen drowning bugs and the farewell tinkle from the last toddler to be dragged streaming out of it. Today it is filled with acid. Seriously. Acid.” (p. 9)

Read This If You Love: Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy series by William Boniface, Adventures of Daniel Boom AKA Loud Boy series by David Steinberg, Lunch Lady series by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Mal and Chad series by Stephen McCranie

Recommended For:

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I know you all want to read this book- it is so good!

**Thank you to Kellie at Walden Pond Press for providing a copy for review and giveaway!**

Junket is Nice
Author: Dorothy Kunhardt
Published: June 25th, 2013 by NYR Children’s Collection
(First published: 1933)

Summary: An old man with a red beard and red slippers eats junket out of a big, red bowl. All of the people arrive and want to know what he thinks about while he eats his junket. The old man tells them the three things he is NOT thinking about, and the people try to guess what he is thinking. Only the little boy, who arrived last, truly knows what the old man is thinking while he is eating his junket.

Ricki’s Review: Kids will love the crowd’s nonsensical guesses of what the old man is thinking about while he eats his junket–from “a kangaroo jumping over a glass of orange juice so as not to spill it” to “a bear climbing a ladder because his toenails are too long for walking on the ground”–I can imagine a whole class giggling as the people make their guesses.

Dorothy Kunhardt has a very creative imagination that kids are sure to enjoy. The drawings are very humorous, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I read this picture book–the idea of a “daddy-long-legs holding up his foot for the sun to warm it” is just very silly! Junket is Nice would allow for a lot of great, creative thinking in the classroom. Readers of Pat the Bunny are sure to enjoy this classic.

Kellee’s Review: This book is so full of imagination. The clever, funny animals that the crowd comes up with while trying to guess what the old man is thinking will definitely, like Ricki says, make a whole class giggle. It also will be the most discussed part of the book, I’m sure. You can tell that Dorothy Kunhardt was full of imagination and wanted to make this book as fun as possible. Her son remembers her being curious and appreciating the way young people viewed the book, and you can tell by Junket is Nice that she embraced this curiosity and put as much of it into her books as possible.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: Teachers could use this book and have students create their own riddles like Kunhardt’s–“What is the old man thinking while he eats his junket?” They could even create their own picture books for their riddles. Alternatively, a teacher might read all the way up to the section of the book that gives the answer to the riddle. Then, each student in the classroom might draw their own creative guess about what the old man is thinking. This would allow students to make predictions, based on the other guesses within the book.

Discussion Questions: What might the old man be thinking about when he eats his junket?; Why might the little boy be the only one who knows what the old man is thinking about?; Was the ending satisfying, or did you wish the old man was thinking about something else?

We Flagged: “‘People why don’t you try and guess what I am thinking about all the time I am eating my junket and if you guess right I will give you something nice'” (p. 16).

Read This If You Loved: Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt, The Napping House by Audrey Wood, That is Not a Good Idea by Mo Willems, other picture book classics like Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey and The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

Recommended For:

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Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below so you can win your own copy of Junket is Nice!

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