Review Detail

Fans of Gooney Bird Greene are sure to welcome this third book to the series. If you havent met Gooney before, youll wish you had. Shes a seriously inventive, creative little kid with a knack for taking things over and making them interesting.

Her second-grade class is learning about fables (think Aesop) and Gooney has the bright idea for the class to invent new animal fables based on their first initial (Keiko performs one about kangaroos, Felicia Ann tackles flamingos, etc.). Everyone seems to be on board and having a great time, except for Nicholas.

No one can figure out why, since Nicholas is normally a really happy kid. Whats eating him? Of course, Gooney finally figures it out and she solves his problem with aplomb.

This is a fun chapter book where the conflict stays very minimal (and the kids seem awfully sharp for their age), but the creativity is high. Theres even a rapping second-grader whos probably got a better sense of rhyme than I do.

Recommended for ages 9 and up and for girls or boys. While Gooney is a girl, theres enough boy stuff going on that I think this one bridges any gender gap easily.