Pros: Believable and quirky character, black and white illustrations, resourceful heroine
Cons: There really are children like Clementine
The Bottom Line: Clementine is a new heroine for children's chapter books and she is guaranteed to delight and entertain readers, immediately creating groups of fans eager for more.
pestyside's Full Review: Sara Pennypacker - Clementine
Clementine knows how to pay attention better than anyone, and she knows how to help people, especially her best friend Margaret. Clementine is a third grader and even though Margaret is a grown-up fourth grader, they are best friends.
This new chapter book character is guaranteed to delight resourceful readers who share her propensity for creative solutions. Second and third graders, all too familiar with short attention spans and difficulties understanding adult requests will cheer for Clementine. Adult readers will find themselves rethinking instructions they give children. I suggest that you attempt to think the way a child might, if that’s possible. For example, if told to “pay attention” what should you pay attention to? Do we say "pay attention to this lesson" or "pay attention to the blackboard" or do we simply say “pay attention?”
Clementine, by Sara Pennypacker, introduces us to a delightful child allergic to sitting still, full of noisy fidgets and short attention spans with her own way of looking at the world. In this introductory book, we spend one week with Clementine, but it’s not her best week, although it may be a typical week. It’s definitely a bad hair week.
Although lovable, Clementine is completely unpredictable. Fortunately her parents adore her quirky way of examining the world. She has difficulty understanding why everyone gets upset with her. In describing her week she explains that everyone tells her to pay attention--although she does! She always hears “Clementine-pay-attentions!” from teachers, parents, and principals. The odd thing she doesn’t understand is that she is paying attention. In fact, Clementine is almost always the only one paying attention to small details while everyone else is too busy ignoring these important events.
“I was the only person in the whole art room who WAS paying attention. Which is why I could tell everyone right in the middle of the Pledge of Allegiance that the lunchroom lady was sitting in the janitor’s car and they were kissing. Again. No one else saw this disgusting scene, because no one else was paying attention out the window!” Clementine is the only one watching ceiling snakes. Paying attention, she observes a woman eating lentils with a toothbrush and thought that was a great way to eat problematic lentils. She’s also the only one wondering if her principal has tattoos on her arms.
Laughing and groaning my way through most of this book, I was grateful this child was not mine while simultaneously I was admiring her creative thought process. Her bad hair week began when she found her friend Margaret sitting on the floor of the girl's bathroom cutting glue out of her own hair. It seems that Margaret is the complete opposite of Clementine, always very neat and careful. This "glue problem" happened in art and she was so upset that she cut it out leaving a big, very distressing, bald patch. Ever so considerate and helpful, Clementine agreed to help and together they cut off all of Margaret’s beautiful hair leaving only a few stubble clumps. They got rid of the bald patch. Trying to improve on a bad situation she later took bright red permanent markers to color the remaining stubble and to draw curls on her scalp. This started the bad hair week. As the week progressed it grew worse (not the hair). Over the next few days Clementine cut her own hair to help Margaret feel better and colored her own head with green markers. Margaret’s mother wasn’t quite as understanding as Clementine’s parents, who appeared to encourage her idiosyncrasies.
Sara Pennypacker has written several books for young readers, but her character, Clementine, will quickly become a favorite for second and third grade readers. This is an easy chapter book written in the voice of a third grader with attention span issues. The flow of her thoughts and sentences tends to run in unusual directions, but I found this enhancing the believability and charm of this young girl. The pages are delightfully illustrated by Marla Frazee’s simple black-and-white ink drawings. The two have combined to create a memorable character and this is destined to become classic chapter book.
Clementine’s knack for getting into trouble is a non-stop challenge for her parents. Imagine her father’s panic when she starts asking where he keeps his razor. Her creative thinking process and her attempts to help and to solve problems continually get her into trouble. However, before the end of the week she solves a real problem and becomes her dad’s hero as well as a new hero for children’s chapter books. Clementine’s mind runs like a circus ride, taking curious new turns with every thought. Her mind competes with her fidgety body 24 hours a day. For this reason alone, second and third grade fans of Lois Lowry (Gooney Bird Greene), Beverly Cleary (Ramona), and numerous Judy Blume books will welcome this irresistible character and eagerly await future adventures with Clementine.
P.S. This thoughtful child should never be left at home alone after school; she is far too unpredictable and resourceful.
(The Talented Clementine is due to be released spring 2007).
The New York Times bestseller and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year now comes to paperback. The author of Stewart s Cape and Stewart Goes to Sch...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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