Gooney the Fabulous

March 1, 2007
Gr 1-3-Gooney Bird Greene returns for a third installment. Here, her second-grade class is learning about fables. In typical Gooney fashion, the precocious child takes over her classroom by suggesting that everyone write a new fable. Mrs. Pidgeon encourages her enthusiasm by letting her direct the project, and each subsequent chapter is dedicated to a student's work, including one fable about a T. rex done as a rap, concluding with, "Big mean nuthin' if you don't do school!" Given the age of these children, they are amazingly adept at writing, reading, and giving presentations, and they run into only minor glitches with their fables. While it is refreshing to hear from the other members of the class so clearly dominated by Gooney Bird, their creations lack the zest that hers usually have. Fortunately, her eccentric outfits and words of wisdom are peppered throughout to keep the story moving along while Thomas's characteristic black-and-white illustrations provide nice visuals. Full of new vocabulary words and information about fables, this slightly didactic first chapter book is a must for Gooney Bird fans."Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2007
Second-grader Gooney Bird Green returns in this story with a moral. After Miss Pidgeon reads her class an Aesop's fable, the kids write their own stories with a message. As in previous books, Gooney takes the lead, as much of a junior teacher as she is kid. The recitation of five or six original fables becomes a bit boring, but Lowry nicely individualizes her characters and gets readers interested in their problems. It will take good primary-grade readers to tackle this; it may work best as a read-aloud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)