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bickie's review against another edition
2.0
Not sure what to think about this book; Sadie and Ratz are the main character's hands. They can be mean, and they take out their anger on Baby Boy, a 4-year-old who blames them for mishaps around the house like marker on the wall, spilled milk, and a missing leg on a pet stick insect. There is no real resolution except that Baby Boy's hands, Colin and Scraps, are uncovered as the culprit when a clock is smashed. Thoughtful readers will see how children can get pegged as "bad kids" and "good kids" who then are given the benefit of the doubt or not in certain situations. Some children are able to deal with their impulses and violent feelings better by holding them at a certain distance (like Sadie and Ratz); Hannah takes responsibility for controlling them, thinking it might be time for them to have a vacation (despite the hands still being attached to her body, the characters leave).
lannthacker's review against another edition
3.0
For help dealing with hitting, fighting siblings, lying, and not being believed in early elementary school. If not for some more advanced vocabulary words, this could be a beginning reader.
shighley's review against another edition
4.0
This book cracked me up. After Donalyn Miller mentioned that Dory Fantasmagory reminded her of this book, I decided to try it. This would be a great read aloud and book to ask children to make predictions or inferences, plus it had a great ending! I just wish there had been color illustrations, although black & white does lend itself well to mischief.
beecheralyson's review against another edition
5.0
Really brilliantly done - captures the emotions and feelings shared between young siblings.
trixie_reads's review against another edition
1.0
Ick. Am I the only person who thinks this family harbors two future serial killers? Her little brother TORE A LEG OFF HER PET! I thought this book was weird and scary.
katiekeeler's review against another edition
4.0
Hartnett, S., & James, A. (2012). Sadie and Ratz. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Summary: Little Hannah has discovered the brilliance of using her hands for puppets, even going as far as to name them Sadie and Ratz. Hannah gets into trouble when Sadie and Ratz "act up" and retaliate against her younger brother who is always picking on her. Until one day, the little brother's antics catch up to him and Hannah isn't the one in trouble anymore.
Review: Kirkus Reviews starred (January 15, 2012)
Sadie and Ratz, Hannah's menacing hands, help her to handle her sibling rivalry in this piercingly intelligent foray into chapter books by much-awarded teen author Hartnett. Hannah lives with her parents and her stick insect, Pin. She would like to have a real pet, but all she has is the disappointing Baby Boy, who is the object of Sadie and Ratz's anger. When he does the things little brothers do (going into her room, changing the channel or using markers), Sadie and Ratz wake up, jump onto Baby Boy's head and rub his ears off. One day, the game is changed when Baby Boy starts acting like a crafty 4-year-old. He spills milk, writes on the wall and breaks a valuable timepiece but blames everything on his sister's naughty hands. When Pin is found missing a leg after Hannah sends her hands on vacation, the parents start to see the truth. The tale is accompanied by warm, expressive gestural charcoal drawings on every page that add much to the story, drawing readers' eyes to the characters' real feelings. Ending on the hopeful note that Baby Boy's hands and Hannah's hands are going to be friends, this is one story of sibling rivalry that seems realistic. The kids might not be friends, but their naughty hands can be! For big sisters and Baby Boys adjusting to each other. A real slice of family life, the sweet with the bitter.
Curriculum Connection: This would be a great selection to use to teach primary students the importance of being responsible for your actions. It could be a part of character education or simply a book that is read aloud to students right before lunch.
Diversity: Sonya Hartnett, the book's author, is an internationally-recognized author from Australia.
Genre: Fiction
Age: Primary grades
Summary: Little Hannah has discovered the brilliance of using her hands for puppets, even going as far as to name them Sadie and Ratz. Hannah gets into trouble when Sadie and Ratz "act up" and retaliate against her younger brother who is always picking on her. Until one day, the little brother's antics catch up to him and Hannah isn't the one in trouble anymore.
Review: Kirkus Reviews starred (January 15, 2012)
Sadie and Ratz, Hannah's menacing hands, help her to handle her sibling rivalry in this piercingly intelligent foray into chapter books by much-awarded teen author Hartnett. Hannah lives with her parents and her stick insect, Pin. She would like to have a real pet, but all she has is the disappointing Baby Boy, who is the object of Sadie and Ratz's anger. When he does the things little brothers do (going into her room, changing the channel or using markers), Sadie and Ratz wake up, jump onto Baby Boy's head and rub his ears off. One day, the game is changed when Baby Boy starts acting like a crafty 4-year-old. He spills milk, writes on the wall and breaks a valuable timepiece but blames everything on his sister's naughty hands. When Pin is found missing a leg after Hannah sends her hands on vacation, the parents start to see the truth. The tale is accompanied by warm, expressive gestural charcoal drawings on every page that add much to the story, drawing readers' eyes to the characters' real feelings. Ending on the hopeful note that Baby Boy's hands and Hannah's hands are going to be friends, this is one story of sibling rivalry that seems realistic. The kids might not be friends, but their naughty hands can be! For big sisters and Baby Boys adjusting to each other. A real slice of family life, the sweet with the bitter.
Curriculum Connection: This would be a great selection to use to teach primary students the importance of being responsible for your actions. It could be a part of character education or simply a book that is read aloud to students right before lunch.
Diversity: Sonya Hartnett, the book's author, is an internationally-recognized author from Australia.
Genre: Fiction
Age: Primary grades
maloryh's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting early chapter book. Would put it in my first grade classroom.
library_brandy's review against another edition
4.0
Why, yes, I've had the attention span of a gnat lately, and a Beginning Reader book is about my speed.
Picked this up because I love this author and wanted to see what she did with the younger format. Turns out, what she did is exactly what I should have expected--a realistic story that highlights something that's both common and dark; in this case, creating what is essentially a pair of imaginary friends (her hands) through which she can act out her frustrations and vent her childish anger. She has particular trouble dealing with her little brother and the attention he gets, so he takes the brunt of Sadie's and Ratz's rage.
It's not my favorite of her books (that's probably either The Ghost's Child or What the Birds See), it still has her usual sense of how things truly are for kids, not how we wish they would be. (I'm reminded of a line from My So-Called Life, about how "the yearbook isn't a book of what really happened; it's a book about what we wish had happened. Because if you made a book of what really happened, it would be a really depressing book." And that's a great way to sum up most of Hartnett's writing.)
Picked this up because I love this author and wanted to see what she did with the younger format. Turns out, what she did is exactly what I should have expected--a realistic story that highlights something that's both common and dark; in this case, creating what is essentially a pair of imaginary friends (her hands) through which she can act out her frustrations and vent her childish anger. She has particular trouble dealing with her little brother and the attention he gets, so he takes the brunt of Sadie's and Ratz's rage.
It's not my favorite of her books (that's probably either The Ghost's Child or What the Birds See), it still has her usual sense of how things truly are for kids, not how we wish they would be. (I'm reminded of a line from My So-Called Life, about how "the yearbook isn't a book of what really happened; it's a book about what we wish had happened. Because if you made a book of what really happened, it would be a really depressing book." And that's a great way to sum up most of Hartnett's writing.)