Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing   By: Judy Blume
Reviewed By: JCJ

The book “Tales of a Forth Grade Nothing” is about a kid named Peter. Peter has a problem…his little brother, Fudge! Fudge is like a dog in the house. But outside Fudge acts like a bird. Although Fudge acts like animals, he is funny. Peter has a pet turtle named Dribble. I like this book because Fudge always asks “Can I hold Dribble, Pee-tah?” When Fudge asks that he cracks me up! One day Fudge eats the turtle. At the end Peter gets a dog and names it Turtle. My opinion is this book is funny!

Do you have a brother like that?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
Reviewed by A.R.

This book is about this kid Greg Heffly. There are a lot of interesting people in this book. Like his Mom and Dad, Greg gets embarrassed so much by his Mom and Dad. There is a smart kid, Alex Aruda. Greg loves this girl, Holly Hills. It is a really funny book because Greg gets embarrassed so much by these people. Greg is playing soccer and he is not good at it. He was playing one game and lost because he was playing in the tulips. How embarrassing!
Have you ever been really embarrassed?

The Weird Club

The Weird Club     By: Randy Fairbanks
Reviewed by M.G.

I read a story called The Weird Club: The Search for the Jersey Devil.
Everybody thinks the Jersey Devil is real, but I don’t! Well until I read this book anyway. You can tell the pictures are fantasy drawings. They are drawings because nobody has seen the Jersey Devil and been able to take a picture of it. A girl tells a story about her uncle going on trips. He takes pictures of what they think the Devil has done. There was a bicycle in a tree. I mean it was in it, right through the bark! Then there was a truck in a tree too.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the devil.

Have you ever seen the Jersey Devil?

Nicky Fifth: For Hire

Nicky Fifth: For Hire by Lisa Funari Willever
Reveiwed by T.C.

Nicky Fifth: For Hire is about a kid named Nicky and his two sisters, a brother and a friend named Tommy. Their parents are having an anniversary soon and Nicky needs to get a present quickly. He really wants to give them a coffee maker. So they go to a restaurant named Wrangler Rays. On the cups there are stickers and each are worth 25 points. He needs over 14,000 points to get a coffee maker. You may want to go to the book store and check this book out.

What do you collect?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid      By: Jeff Kinney
Reviewed by D.C.

The #1 series with a new movie coming out, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is now a New York Times bestseller! The book Diary of a Wimpy Kid is about Gregory Heffley. Greg knows how it is to be a kid. To him it’s torture. There’s another thing he can’t stand, middle school. In his very own words “Middle school is the worst idea ever invented.” Greg has a diary. His mom made him buy it. He only went along with it because he thinks that one day he’ll be famous and he won’t have time to answer ANY questions. So for the people that want to know about him, he’ll just give them his journal. Greg has a mom, a dad, a little brother named Manny, and an older brother named Rodrick. In my opinion this series and this book are hilarious! If you’re the person that loves humor than go to your local library and find this book!!!
Do you keep a diary?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days  By: Jeff Kinney
Reviewed by J.H.

I read Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days and it’s laugh out loud funny. Every time Greg Heffly wants to do something the opposite happens. Rowley and Greg find a horror movie and end up sleeping in the bath room . Greg’s mom starts a reading club and he has to read Little Women, The Yearling, Old Yeller, and Anne of Green Gables . Yawnnnnnnn! Greg and Rowley start a V.I.P. lawn service . Greg gets a ladybug phone for his birthday . I'd recommend this book to anyone who has ever had a "dog day."

Did you ever get something you didn’t want for your birthday ?

Bedeviled: Daddy`s Little Angel

Bedeviled: Daddy`s Little Angel   By: Shani Petroff
Reviewed by: B.T.

My mom got me this book. So I thought, oh a book I wouldn’t like. She doesn’t always know what kind of books I like. But when I read it, it was really good. Bedeviled is about a girl named Angel who finds out she has powers. Whatever she thinks about, happens. And her dad is the devil! Her powers get her into trouble. This book is really good. It gives me a mental image of what`s happening. It keeps on making me want to get the other books! There are at least three in this series. Out of a five-star rating I would give this book an outstanding five!

Would you like to have powers like Angel?

Nicky Fifth On 32 Dandelion Court

Nicky Fifth On 32 Dandelion Court by: Lisa Funari Willever
Reviewed by A.S.H.

This story is about a kid whose family is moving from Philadelphia to New Jersey. But he don’t want to leave his home. Nicky is in fourth grade and likes to play baseball, just like me. This is a humorous book. In one part the Grandpa told his Nicky's sister to "put yourself in your dad’s shoes" and she slept in her dad’s shoes! There are many more idioms in this book.

I think anybody who has a little sister should read this book.

Do any of your siblings ever bug you?

The Good, The Bad and The Goofy

Time Warp Trio: The Good, The Bad and The Goofy by Jon Scieszka
Reviewed by: G.H.

The Time Warp Trio: The Good, The Bad and The Goofy is a pretty good book. It was written by Jon Scieszka. It’s about three boys who find a magic book and where ever they want to go the book will take them there. In this book they end up on a deserted island surrounded by cowboys. But they lose the book and need to find it to get home. This book only has 11 chapters that’s not long is it? This book is easy to read. My sister makes me read it to her before she goes to bed. There are 14 books in this series.

Where will you go next with them?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules  By: Jeff Kinney
Reviewed by: A.W.

Rodrick Rules is mostly about Greg Heffley being bossed around by his older brother … Rodrick. This book got me ready to burst with laughter! I loved this book because of the loads of humor. But, I didn’t like the way Rodrick bullied his brother. My 5 star rating is a heart-stopping 5! I would recommend this book to anyone whose older sibling tortures them.

Who runs your family?

The Tarantula in My Purse and 172 Other Wild Pets

The Tarantula In My Purse and 172 Other Wild Pets   By: Jean Craighead George
Reviewed by: D.S.

“The Tarantula in My Purse” is a great book. It’s about the author’s life with many, and I mean many, outrageous pets! One such pet is a screech owl who likes television, and a crow named Crowbar who “goes to the bank”. There basically isn’t a bad part of this book! I’d recommend it to any wildlife lover, whether you’re 7, or 107!  My five star review is five out of five stars.

Do you have an outrageous pet story?

The Book Whisperer

The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
Reveiwed by A.O.

About a year ago I read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. This book simply validated my opinions about reading with children in a handy 200 page format. The Book Whisperer is loaded with ideas for in and out of the classroom. It had me running to the book store to purchase three more follow up books. And I can now be found at the local library every Saturday scouring the used book shelves for the best fifty cent bargains to add to my collection.

I was spied on many occasions this summer reading the very best in fourth grade chapter books, while my peers read on through another epic tale of vampires. But how could I put books in a “must read” bin if I’d never read them? How could I recommend a book to a child without having ever read it? How could I recommend a chapter book to a reluctant reader?

But the real question was: How could I empower all my students as readers?

To start with, I challenged my fourth graders to read 40 books this year. I’m sure you all heard the collective *groan* when I told them that in September.

But just last week one of my students told me that as soon as he finishes the book he is reading, he will have finished 40 books! And it’s only March!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What an amazing accomplishment!

Now if only there was a way to share these amazing accomplishments with friends and family!

Welcome to The Forty Book Blog!

What’s on your bookshelf?