Tomie dePaola is one of the best children’s book author/illustrators working. Period. Maybe you know Strega Nona
This is just such a perfect beginning chapter book that I can’t help but be thrilled. Even better, it’s the first of a series (although I haven’t read the whole series for content, disclaimer, disclaimer, etc.). Best of all, the kids love it. For years I taught this to one of my third grade reading groups with great success. They love the stories, there was lots of giggling. The chapters are more episodic, so it’s easier for children to understand than one continuous story arc. I really knew I had a hit on my hands when the kids would come to reading group with other information they’d researched about the book. Unprompted. Just showing up at group “Hey Mrs. N, did you know that the hurricane Tomie talked about didn’t have a name? They didn’t name hurricanes back then!!”
I would say this would be great as a read aloud for small children, and a perfect pick for first and second grade readers that can read well beyond their grade level but still need appropriate content. Definitely preview the series as it continues though because Tomie does get older in each book. An on grade level third grade reader can probably read this toward the beginning of the school year.
Great for: This is the sweet spot, the holy grail. This is a beginning chapter book that is actually interesting and engaging. It still has illustrations which are so reassuring to readers as they move towards books with more text. I managed to maintain a waiting list for students dying to read the next in the series, a true coup in a room that had been so thrilled with Spongebob and My Weird School books.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Tomie mentions how in Sleeping Beauty and Snow White the prince kisses the princess.
Profanity – Tomie tell us that his father said “some bad words.” Later he says “more and more bad words.”
Death, Violence and Gore – One chapter is about seeing Snow White at the theater. The content in Snow White can be scary. The Evil Queen sends her into the woods to be killed by a huntsman; the Evil Queen makes a poison apple. Tomie reflects on the book version where the Evil Queen tightens Snow White’s laces until she can’t breathe and gives her a poison comb. Tomie is angry the movie doesn’t have the part where the Queen dances herself to death in the red-hot iron shoes.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking –
Frightening or Intense Things – There is a bad hurricane. They use a fire to get rid of weeds in the yard and it gets out of hand.
