gobbysreviews's Full Review: Jon Scieszka - Summer Reading Is Killing Me
Summer Reading Is Killing Me! by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith.
I've got to hand it to him. Jon Scieszka has, once again, sneakily (is that a word?) slid all kinds of information and ideas into a book kids will really enjoy reading. In an interview with Karin Snelson at amazon.com, he said, "Having been a teacher, I sneak in all kinds of history and science and math and magic tricks and jokes and stuff I think is fun just in the hopes that someone will find it--just sort of discover it. And the best teachers do help readers discover things."
Summer Reading Is Killing Me! is another Time Warp Trio action adventure book in this series that's aimed especially at boys in the 3rd-5th grades. That's not to say that girls, and adults with a sense of humor, wouldn't enjoy them, too.
Too many physically active boys are turned off by the idea of "reading for pleasure" because it's a passive activity. And, as far as they're concerned, fiction is BORING, or worse yet, full of GIRL STUFF which translates to--you guessed it--REALLY BORING. Yuck!
In Summer Reading Is Killing Me!, Jon Scieszka presents another NON-BORING, humorous adventure filled with scary moments, skateboarding moves, plenty of physical & emotional action, and, for good measure, a really, really BORING GIRL to add to the fun.
Summer Reading Is Killing Me!, revolves around The Boss's evil plot to wipe out all the good guys on the summer reading list of books for K-12 students and replace those characters with himself in the lead roles.
Kids will enjoy the madness and mayhem and, as an added bonus, perhaps they'll discover other characters they didn't know existed and will want to read those books, too.
Just in case, sneaky Jon has thoughtfully included a Summer Reading List and a tongue-in-cheek Study Guide for K-12 students at the end of the book. Use it to find the books whose characters are featured in Summer Reading Is Killing Me! Be very sure to read to the end of his list and study guide. It's a hoot!
By the way, if you have a very young reader in your family, Summer Reading Is Killing Me! is a suitable book. Jon Scieszka's books, as far as I know, do not have "bad" words in them, or deal with subject matter that's too "mature" for the very young.
Jon Scieszka's Time Warp Trio books are an excellent first step down the "Chapter Book" road--even if you have to start out by reading them aloud to your youngsters. In fact, before your youngsters are ready to read on their own, you might want to introduce them to Jon Scieszka's writing by reading his large picture books to them:
* The true story of the three little pigs
* Squids will be squids
* Frog prince continued...
* The stinky cheese man and other fairly stupid tales
Be sure they're familiar with the most common fairy tales before you read these to your youngsters, otherwise his whacked-out versions won't be as funny to your kids as they are to you.
Oh, and don't forget his Math Curse. It's best to read this to your kids before they decide they hate math. And don't forget to check the stores, and the library, for more stories about the Time Warp Trio. Your kids will be glad you did. Here's a list of their titles, from the first title to the latest one:
* Knights of the Kitchen Table
* The Not-So-Jolly Roger
* The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy
* Your Mother Was a Neanderthal
* 2095
* Tut, Tut
* Summer Reading Is Killing Me, and
* It's All Greek to Me
Final notes
Jon Scieszka's Summer Reading Is Killing Me! (illustrated by Lane Smith) is available as:
* a paperback -[Dimensions (in inches): 0.24 x 7.76 x 5.05 - 73 pages], published by Puffin as a Reprint edition in June 2000, ISBN: 0141308206, with a list price of $4.99 US
Don't forget, with gift-giving season so near, these make great presents!
* a hardback - [Dimensions (in inches): 0.50 x 8.60 x 5.84 - 73 pages], published by Viking Childrens Books in July 1998, ISBN: 0670880418, with a list price of $14.99 US
By the way, when your children outgrow this book, you can recycle it at your local library. Did you know that most libraries accept used books in good condition to:
* add a new book title to their shelves
* replace their worn-out copy of that title, or
* sell to raise money, and
the IRS accepts your book gifts to libraries as charitable donations just as if you had donated cash instead? How about that? I know donated books make a big difference at my small library.)
* an unabridged (1 sound cassette [C-90] : analog, 15/16 ips, 4 track, mono) audio cassette read by Ray Hagen and published by the Library of Congress for folks who receive the free Talking Books from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, RC 47435 (Please let your family and friends who belong to this program know about Jon Scieszka's Summer Reading Is Killing Me. That way, they can share your enjoyment. Thank you.)
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