Clementine
Synopsis: Hyper-active Clementine is a handful. Wildly creative, deeply empathetic, Clementine gets into scrape after scrape with her best friend, Margaret. In this episode, she wins the Great Pigeon War, cuts her hair . . . and Margaret's, much to Margaret's mother's consternation. You can't help but love this girl.
Citation: Pennypacker, Sarah. Clementine. (2008). Illus. Marla Frazee. New York: Hyperion.
My thoughts: I hope I have a child just like this someday. I loved Clementine, her letter, her talent show, and even the upcoming friend of the week. I think Sarah Pennypacker is a genius and deserves thousands of accolades. I got to meet her at TLA and my opinion was just further cemented because she's AMAZING! As is Clementine. This is so spectacularfully written. Engaging. Excellent illustrations. Witty story. Personable characters. Children's books at their best!
Library usage: I would love to read this aloud to kids. Sadly, it's too long to do that in a public library. But it would be fun to read parts of it aloud. It could be done as a part of an art/craft program. You could have a contest re-writing the old Clementine song using things from the book. Could have a Clementine naming contest for a library pet/mascot. Hundreds of things.
Review:
Armed with only the best intentions and a few art supplies, eight-year-old Clementine makes quite a mess out of her week. It starts on Monday when she cuts off her friend's hair and goes downhill from there. By the end of the week, she has hacked off her own hair and spent considerable time in the principal's office. With all this trouble, Clementine feels sad but not surprised when she (thinks she) overhears her parents plotting to send her away. Frazee's winning line drawings intensify the story's energy and bring to life the spirit and heart of Pennypacker's funny first-person narration. J.R.
Roach, Julie. "Clementine." The Horn Book Magazine Jan.-Feb. 2008: 26. Literature Resource Center. Web.
As Clementine says, "Spectacularful ideas are always sproinging up in my brain." All the better for readers who like to laugh. Reminiscent of both Ramona and Junie B. Jones, Clementine is an ingenuous third-grader with a talent for trouble and a good heart. Her best friend is her neighbor Margaret, a fourth-grader who experiences both qualities firsthand. After all, plenty of kids may have had their hair chopped off by a helpful friend in an effort to get the glue out, but how many of those friends would think to improve matters by drawing hair back on the scalp, forehead, and neck with a Flaming Sunset permanent marker? "It looked beautiful, like a giant tattoo of tangled worms," Clementine observes in the fresh, funny, first-person narrative. Frazee's expressive ink drawings capture every nuance of the characters' emotions, from bemusement to anger to dejection. Sometimes touching and frequently amusing, this engaging chapter book is well suited to reading alone or reading aloud to a roomful of children.
--Booklist Carolyn PhelanCopyright © American Library Association.
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