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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Gooney Bird Greene is the eccentric new girl in the second grade. She has a flamboyant wardrobe and a knack for storytelling, which her class is studying. Realizing this talent, the teacher enlists Gooney Bird Greene to tell her classmates stories that are strangely all true.
A funny read-aloud for early elementary classes learning about the structure of a story.
Lower elementary.
A funny read-aloud for early elementary classes learning about the structure of a story.
Lower elementary.
This story was funny and cute. My kids busted up laughing at the "Gazpacho Banana" part, and have been quoting that ever since.
I liked how at the end of every story the people kissed and hugged and did a specific dance. That was fun.
Goonie Bird's stories may seem goofy, but it was fun to see how the nonsense turned out to be real. My kids really enjoyed this one, especially seeing all her different crazy outfits in the illustrations.
I liked how at the end of every story the people kissed and hugged and did a specific dance. That was fun.
Goonie Bird's stories may seem goofy, but it was fun to see how the nonsense turned out to be real. My kids really enjoyed this one, especially seeing all her different crazy outfits in the illustrations.
Gooney Bird is exactly who I want to be the next time I get to be a second grader. She’s smart, confident, has a great fashion sense and speaks her truths. She’s also a fantastic story teller and I am the better because of it. Highly recommend.
Gooney Bird Greene is the new girl in the second grade class at Watetower Elementary School. From the moment she appears, the class is captivated with her interesting outfits and even more intriguing stories. Soon the class is demanding to hear Gooney's absolutely true stories at every story period. Throughout the days Gooney expertly tells stories from her life and periodically gives tips on storytelling to the rest of the class. She teaches them all that there are stories everywhere just waiting to be discovered.
Fun book with a creative, imaginative and spunky hero. Should be a great teaching tool on how to write and tell stories. Neat story!
Fun book with a creative, imaginative and spunky hero. Should be a great teaching tool on how to write and tell stories. Neat story!
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My kids loved it!
It is an absolutely true story that my daughter and I have fallen in love with Gooney Bird Greene! I am thrilled to come across this well-written series; it is chock-full of excellent vocabulary and introduces the reader to the elements of good storytelling through the narrative. My first-grade daughter is an advanced reader, so although this book is at a reading level for grades 3-5, the subject matter of an interesting new girl who arrives in the second grade at Watertower Elementary School is age-appropriate for her. Older readers will appreciate Gooney Bird as well; this book is laugh-out-loud funny.
This was a fun read aloud, and a great start to our school year!
A sweet story with a nice message: everyone has a story to tell.
Unfortunately, it seems like I enjoyed it much more than my daughter - it did not resonate with my second-grader.
Unfortunately, it seems like I enjoyed it much more than my daughter - it did not resonate with my second-grader.
My 7-year old does like this book and he's more the target audience than I am, so maybe I should stop there. I also really like the message that everyone has an interesting story to tell.
However, I thought that these books taught exactly how NOT to tell a story. Obfuscating details or taking things WAY out of context just to make the story sound exciting is an example of terrible story-telling. And her advice to just randomly throw in "suddenly" to build suspense is awful advice as well. Her stories end up being quite boring once the truth is revealed OR very interesting and thus in no need of obfuscation.
And incidentally, Gooney Bird acts like she expects everyone to understand her. That is, she's quite shocked people don't understand her little twists and turns. So my impression isn't that she is a master story-teller on purpose. She's just a quirky girl with a lot of personality so her stories end up being a bit crazy. I think the stories or the way they are disguised could have been much more interesting, honestly!
That being said, the end moral is that anyone can tell a story, with Gooney Bird reassuring the classmates that their rather mundane life events would make great stories. Of course this undermines the idea that stories are only good if you give them misleading titles and throw in suddenly every 2 seconds!
I also found it hard to believe that a second grader could so thoroughly take over a classroom that she could dispatch the teacher to take care of interruptions and her condescending attitude to her classmates was irksome. She frequently sighs that the other classmates deign to interrupt her with their boring, repetitive interludes and the class is indeed boring as all they do isall they do is repeat things like "I saw a dog." "My grandma has a dog" . Gooney Bird and the teacher are far above it all and team up to shut it down so Gooney Bird may continue to shine (again undermining the idea that anyone can tell a story). I know in children's stories you need to suspend disbelief and the main character is often larger than life, but I didn't feel Gooney Bird earned it and I really felt terrible for the other kids, who really come off as little babies. And the teacher really seems to be on Gooney Bird's side. There's no sense she's humoring her at all. Gooney Bird runs the classroom!
As I said, my son likes it so maybe let your kids read or listen to it by themselves!
However, I thought that these books taught exactly how NOT to tell a story. Obfuscating details or taking things WAY out of context just to make the story sound exciting is an example of terrible story-telling. And her advice to just randomly throw in "suddenly" to build suspense is awful advice as well. Her stories end up being quite boring once the truth is revealed OR very interesting and thus in no need of obfuscation.
And incidentally, Gooney Bird acts like she expects everyone to understand her. That is, she's quite shocked people don't understand her little twists and turns. So my impression isn't that she is a master story-teller on purpose. She's just a quirky girl with a lot of personality so her stories end up being a bit crazy. I think the stories or the way they are disguised could have been much more interesting, honestly!
That being said, the end moral is that anyone can tell a story, with Gooney Bird reassuring the classmates that their rather mundane life events would make great stories. Of course this undermines the idea that stories are only good if you give them misleading titles and throw in suddenly every 2 seconds!
I also found it hard to believe that a second grader could so thoroughly take over a classroom that she could dispatch the teacher to take care of interruptions and her condescending attitude to her classmates was irksome. She frequently sighs that the other classmates deign to interrupt her with their boring, repetitive interludes and the class is indeed boring as all they do isall they do is repeat things like "I saw a dog." "My grandma has a dog" . Gooney Bird and the teacher are far above it all and team up to shut it down so Gooney Bird may continue to shine (again undermining the idea that anyone can tell a story). I know in children's stories you need to suspend disbelief and the main character is often larger than life, but I didn't feel Gooney Bird earned it and I really felt terrible for the other kids, who really come off as little babies. And the teacher really seems to be on Gooney Bird's side. There's no sense she's humoring her at all. Gooney Bird runs the classroom!
As I said, my son likes it so maybe let your kids read or listen to it by themselves!
Book #6 in my Summer of Lois Lowry series.
This reminded me little bit of the Anastasia series. Gooney Bird is quirky, easy to love, and full of great stories.
This reminded me little bit of the Anastasia series. Gooney Bird is quirky, easy to love, and full of great stories.