Scan barcode
munchylorne's review against another edition
5.0
Read as part of the Around the Year in 52 books challenge. Week 41: A book from the 2018 Good Reads Choice Awards
jmshirtz's review against another edition
5.0
This book is SO FUNNY! There are so many wonderful little comments sprinkled throughout that are shared as if they're normal..., but they're not! For example, ponies are Penelope's favorite animal (normal) because they're delicious (not so normal). Penelope's penchant for eating her classmates takes a turn when she herself is "eaten" by the class goldfish and she has a change of heart. I loved this one; I hope we see other Penelope books in the future!
spring_lilac's review against another edition
4.0
Penelope Rex is nervous about school, and things take a turn when she discovers her classmates are children and she eats them. (Spoiler: she spits them back out.) Her behavior doesn't earn her many friends, but an event that teaches her empathy changes everything.
A great read to talk about how to treat others and empathy. The illustrations are well done, I especially liked the facial expressions on everyone.
A great read to talk about how to treat others and empathy. The illustrations are well done, I especially liked the facial expressions on everyone.
mrchance's review against another edition
3.0
Do we need to experience something first-hand in order to have empathy for the same thing happening to others? Does what we do to other people need to be done to us in order to change our own behavior? We Don't Eat Our Classmates suggests that is the case. Penelope T-Rex eats all her classmates on the first day of school. Then they don't want to be friends with her. Sometimes she occasionally eats one as a snack, but she spits them out quickly. Resisting the urge to eat children is hard. After a goldfish bites her finger, she realizes how much it must suck to be eaten, and she stops doing it. "Once Penelope found out what it was like to be someone' snack, she lost her appetite for children."
This is a popular narrative arc, both in children's and adult fiction. I've read many stories like this -- asshole is an asshole until someone is an asshole to them in the exact same way they're an asshole, then they change their ways. This is a cute twist on that trope, but is that the way it has to be? Is experiencing pain the only way to develop true empathy? Or is it just a more dramatic way to tell a story? Like Penelope lying awake thinking about how her classmates taste, I'll be up for a while thinking about these questions.
This is a popular narrative arc, both in children's and adult fiction. I've read many stories like this -- asshole is an asshole until someone is an asshole to them in the exact same way they're an asshole, then they change their ways. This is a cute twist on that trope, but is that the way it has to be? Is experiencing pain the only way to develop true empathy? Or is it just a more dramatic way to tell a story? Like Penelope lying awake thinking about how her classmates taste, I'll be up for a while thinking about these questions.
3435redbug's review against another edition
3.0
Penelope has a problem…she likes to eat children. Which becomes a bigger issue when she starts school and all her classmates are children. Thank goodness for the class goldfish and some wise words from her dad.
prophetofguillotines's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my gooooooodnessssssssssssssssssssssssssss
This is so adorable and the art is AMAZEBALLS that I couldn't help but fall in love!
This is so adorable and the art is AMAZEBALLS that I couldn't help but fall in love!
5tami8's review against another edition
3.0
Penelope Rex (a young T-Rex) is starting school. She is surprised to find her classmates are human children. Unfortunately for her classmates, T-Rexes love the taste of children so Penelope is continuously eating her classmates. In the true tradition of broad, cartoon-like humor the other students are unhappy--but otherwise unhurt--when Penelope spits them out, having been told "WE DON'T EAT OUR CLASSMATES!"
Penelope is lonely and unhappy. She can't understand why she can't make friends OR why she needs to change a behavior that is normal and accepted in her household. Penelope tries to make friends with the classroom fish, Walter, and he nibbles on her finger. This experience allows Penelope to experience what it feels like to have someone try to eat you and it changes her perspective of her own situation with the children.
The colors are bright and bold with lots of jewel tones. Penelope's features are emphasized in both size and detail to a greater extent than those of her classmates. Thus, the illustrations clearly underline the emotions of our main character.
Being the parent of a child who struggles with anxiety, I would make sure my listeners are at a developmental stage where they can consciously regard Penelope's story as fiction before I chose this as a read-aloud. Higgins also seems conscious of this possibility because he has a wonderful note in a word bubble on the title page:
We Don't Eat Our Classmates is a great springboard to having conversations with young readers about empathy and adjusting behaviors when those on the receiving end feel violated--regardless of the original intentions. I was excited to see a Ryan T Higgins title appear on the MN Star of the North nominee list for 2020! I truly enjoy his work and was looking forward to reading this one. Unfortunately, We Don't Eat Our Classmates was a bit of a letdown for me. It's an okay story, but it seems to lack that extra-special spark found in his other work.
Penelope is lonely and unhappy. She can't understand why she can't make friends OR why she needs to change a behavior that is normal and accepted in her household. Penelope tries to make friends with the classroom fish, Walter, and he nibbles on her finger. This experience allows Penelope to experience what it feels like to have someone try to eat you and it changes her perspective of her own situation with the children.
The colors are bright and bold with lots of jewel tones. Penelope's features are emphasized in both size and detail to a greater extent than those of her classmates. Thus, the illustrations clearly underline the emotions of our main character.
Being the parent of a child who struggles with anxiety, I would make sure my listeners are at a developmental stage where they can consciously regard Penelope's story as fiction before I chose this as a read-aloud. Higgins also seems conscious of this possibility because he has a wonderful note in a word bubble on the title page:
HEY KIDS! You will never be eaten by a T. Rex. They are extinct. I promise!
We Don't Eat Our Classmates is a great springboard to having conversations with young readers about empathy and adjusting behaviors when those on the receiving end feel violated--regardless of the original intentions. I was excited to see a Ryan T Higgins title appear on the MN Star of the North nominee list for 2020! I truly enjoy his work and was looking forward to reading this one. Unfortunately, We Don't Eat Our Classmates was a bit of a letdown for me. It's an okay story, but it seems to lack that extra-special spark found in his other work.
themoonaccepts's review against another edition
5.0
A total riot with great illustrations! Would be fun for a toddler or preschool storytime.