| Frankie Pickle and the Mathematical Menace (series #3) |
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What You Need to Know:
• Hurray, there is a new Frankie Pickle book! This is the third in the series.
• Frankie Pickle is a fearless fourth grader with a very vivid imagination.
• Kids who enjoy graphic novels, super heroes and just plain funny stuff will eat these books for breakfast.
• The hybrid graphic novel and early chapter book format of the books in this series is a perfect combination for the
young, newly independent reader you are hoping to get "hooked" on reading!
• This particular format is a good confidence booster for a fledgling reader. The appealing sequentially-paneled
episodes, interspersed throughout the book, give a fledgling reader a place to rest after reading a few pages of text,
a rest they will likely need as they are starting out.
• I predict the interest level will span a large age range. My five year old son was entranced while I read it to him.
Subsequently, after leaving it lying around conspicuously, my ten year old son picked it up and read it in the time
he would have spent playing a video game (score!). |
Sweet Series Background:
Frankie Pickle has one vivid imagination! Frankie and his trusted sidekick, Argyle (the family dog), face their adventures together. Frankie gets into all sorts of challenging situations that often just seem to happen to young boys. But Frankie handles them with a dose of imaginative bravado and real life cleverness. Every time he finds himself in the middle of a problem or distracted by an exciting thought, he becomes a superhero in his mind. The reader is then treated to a comic strip sequence of Frankie's imagined adventure. Written and drawn by Eric Wight's sure hand, your young reader is really in for a treat. Wight's humor is sophisticated enough that older readers (and parents) can enjoy it, but it can also be enjoyed on a more basic level, by the youngest readers. That's a tricky span Wight has bridged. It is pure and simple genius. |
Sweet Book Summary:
Frankie has just bombed his math quiz. Instead of facing the quiz head on, he has doodled and lost focus, and now there is no time left to complete the quiz. When the teacher corrects the quizzes and hands them back, Frankie doesn't get one; he thinks he has possibly dodged a bullet! But no, the teacher asks him to stay after class. Miss Gordon decides to have mercy on Frankie and tells him he can have another chance to take the quiz on Monday.
Frankie spends the whole weekend worrying about the re-test but not actually studying for it - or did he? As it turns out, his family is out to help this math-o-phobe. While Frankie wasn't looking his mom was teaching him math in the grocery store, his sister was teaching him math in the backyard and his dad was teaching him while baking. Unsurprisingly, Frankie aces his quiz.
Besides the fact that this is just an entertaining read, I really like what Frankie embodies. He is a nice little kid with normal, everyday problems. I am sure many young boys (and girls) will find a kindred spirit in Frankie. Who hasn't been intimidated by a subject at school? For many, I am sure it is math. Frankie navigates his challenges with humor and imagination. I especially like that Wight has created a character that is funny and has super hero powers (albeit imagined) and all without the use of any gross-out humor. A wonderful feat, indeed! |
Author: Eric Wight Illustrator: Eric Wight Published: 2011, 96 pages
Themes: Graphic Novel, Humor, Adventure, School, Math, Books for Boys |
Sweet Discussion Questions:
• Is any subject at school particularly hard for you?
• Which one? Why? What makes it so challenging?
• What do you do to succeed in that subject?
• Have you ever imagined yourself as a superhero?
• Would you want to be a superhero? Why?
• What would your super powers be? Why? |
| This recommendation was written by: Melissa Y. |
| Support Independent Book Shops: Click Here to Buy this Book on IndieBound |
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