tween girls book week concludes with a major fave, the clarice bean books by lauren childs. some of these are chapter books, some are picture books, but all are amazingly cheeky fun.
there’s something so hilariously fragile and funny about clarice and her family. her father is too busy at work; her mother is, well, a bit self-involved; her surly teenage brother is in cave-boy mode; her sister is surgically-attached to the phone; her little brother, minal cricket, is a handful; her grandfather has more than a few senior moments; and her uncle ted, the fireman, is simply a hunky hoot. anyone who has to balance family and hysteria can relate to the over-the-top things that happen in the books. child is perfectly attuned to a girl of a certain age who has to deal with calamity in her daily life. i suspect this is what my house is like on certain days.
incidentally, if you’ve been weaned on charlie and lola (and want to run screaming whenever it shows up on the disney channel), please please PLEASE don’t let that stop you from checking out clarice (i’ve put some faves below, but there are more.) she’s simply THAT FUNNY.
if your kid has finished every junie b. jones book there is, it’s time to graduate to clarice bean. you may find that you like the book, though, even more than your daughter does. i can’t wait to take them out and read them again… (if BC will let me.)
Never heard of these, but I’ll keep them in mind. Any chance you’ll do a post or two on tween boy books??
Hi Wreke! I am just stopping by to show my love! I <3 Wreke! For some reason, I can post comments today on wordpress, but not on blogger. I am mystified. And that’s all I seem to be able to talk about when I can make a comment. Hopefully I’m not becoming too dull about the whole thing.
What’s the theme for next week? And happy turkey day tomorrow!
thanks! i don’t have a ton of tween boy book experience as a mom, though i do as a sister of two older brothers. i’ll try to delve into that as soon as i can. in the meantime, though, i remember my brothers and i loving the encyclopedia brown series of books.