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A review by qualimali
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
5.0
Okay, fine.
Read-aloud to my five-year-old. I don’t normally put kids’ books on my Goodreads account, but this book was so funny, I had to read ahead (and write a review, which I also don’t do often).
I love the way Clementine’s mind works (ceiling snakes?!), and I love her creativity. I love that she knows what she’s good at - she notices little things other people don’t, and her brain runs with it, so the adults accuse her of not paying attention (to the “right” things). But she knows she’s good at observing, and she knows that will help her be a good artist (or detective!). I love her supportive parents, too.
She’s very much an unreliable narrator, which is always fun.
I noticed a lot of reviews complaining that there’s a lot of bad behavior in the book (ie the hair-cutting scenes). So what? I don’t think every kids’ book needs to be a morality tale. I was a pretty well-behaved kid who grew up reading Ramona Quimby and Superfudge and Calvin and Hobbes. I think you have to trust your kid - or teach them - to not emulate the characters in books. Books can be just for fun - grown ups read all KINDS of books with bad behavior in them. Why can’t kids have the same?
Probably the highest praise I can give is that my kiddo likes it. I think she was nervous at first (the hair cutting, the angry neighbor lady). But she picked this one to be read first of her two bedtime books, and she was quietly paying attention the whole time (this is a big deal for a 5-year-old and a chapter book with only a few illustrations).
Read-aloud to my five-year-old. I don’t normally put kids’ books on my Goodreads account, but this book was so funny, I had to read ahead (and write a review, which I also don’t do often).
I love the way Clementine’s mind works (ceiling snakes?!), and I love her creativity. I love that she knows what she’s good at - she notices little things other people don’t, and her brain runs with it, so the adults accuse her of not paying attention (to the “right” things). But she knows she’s good at observing, and she knows that will help her be a good artist (or detective!). I love her supportive parents, too.
She’s very much an unreliable narrator, which is always fun.
I noticed a lot of reviews complaining that there’s a lot of bad behavior in the book (ie the hair-cutting scenes). So what? I don’t think every kids’ book needs to be a morality tale. I was a pretty well-behaved kid who grew up reading Ramona Quimby and Superfudge and Calvin and Hobbes. I think you have to trust your kid - or teach them - to not emulate the characters in books. Books can be just for fun - grown ups read all KINDS of books with bad behavior in them. Why can’t kids have the same?
Probably the highest praise I can give is that my kiddo likes it. I think she was nervous at first (the hair cutting, the angry neighbor lady). But she picked this one to be read first of her two bedtime books, and she was quietly paying attention the whole time (this is a big deal for a 5-year-old and a chapter book with only a few illustrations).