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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Really cute book. Read it aloud to the whole family during a power outage and we all enjoyed it.
Loved it! This book was a breeze to read, but not light on making the reader think. Fifth grader Nick is "an expert at asking the delaying question -- also known as the teacher-stopper, or the guaranteed-time-waster...Nick could launch a question guaranteed to sidetrack the teacher long enough to delay or even wipe out the homework assignment." So when Nick attempts to derail the infamous Mrs. Granger with the question "where do words come from?," he has no idea that she'll get the better of him by making him look it up himself -- or that he'll then be inspired to make up his own word for "pen" -- "frindle." Making up words is not something that a dictionary-worshipper like Mrs. Granger can tolerate, but "frindle" takes on a life of its own! You'll definitely end up thinking more about free speech and academic rules than you ever thought a 100-page "funny book" could make you do. Would also be great as a classroom readaloud.
My son and I really enjoyed this book. We need to see if we can invent a word.
Format: Audiobook. My children (10 & 7) really enjoyed this book. I thought it was fun and amusing, though I wasn’t always sure what type of book it was trying to be. Mischievous child bucking teacher authority? A lesson on linguistics disguised as a children’s book? Something else entirely? Ah, well, it is a children’s book, and it was a fun read. So, I won’t overthink it. It is a warm and lighthearted read, and I would recommend it.
I haven't read this in years....
I still remember it, though. Barely. I had borrowed it from the library and loved it so much that I saved up my money and bought it myself. I was so proud. I really loved this book. I can't remember why, but I just did.
I still remember it, though. Barely. I had borrowed it from the library and loved it so much that I saved up my money and bought it myself. I was so proud. I really loved this book. I can't remember why, but I just did.
I actually got goosebumps and was almost crying reading this to my class today lol
Why do we call a pen "pen"? This is the question posed by Nick in Frindle, even though he originally asks about word origins to just be a time waster at the end of class. Filled with jokes that will hit their target with the elementary aged group, Frindle mixes an examination of etymology and the meaning of language with humorous asides about kids who are intent on getting out of their homework. I found it surprisingly touching as it got to the ending, too. A quick, satisfying listen - I finished the whole thing as I prepped, cooked, ate, and cleaned up dinner.
A friend mentioned this book in passing, and I knew I had to reread it. It is every bit as fresh and captivating as it was the first day I read it, full of the deep sense of intellectual wonder and kindness that marks many of Andrew Clements' stories. As a former teacher and linguist, Mrs. Granger is a much more vivid, relatable, and compelling character than she seemed when I was in fifth grade. I hope I never lose that sense of curiosity, wonder, and willingness to see the world change, even as the setting of Frindle---basically as old as I am now---fades away to give rise to a new world, one we shape every day, with our actions and inactions.
I read this a million times as a child and again recently for a class. Nothing has changed. It's perfect.