Friday, December 27, 2013

Artsy-Fartsy by Karla Oceanak illustrated by Kendra Spanjer*

Aldo's grandmother, Goosy, gives him a sketchbook to draw in during his summer vacation.  To his surprise he does fill it with art and words.  Unlike his athletic brother, Aldo is chubby and does not like anything that requires him to sweat!  Aldo discovers a large evergreen tree near his house which will make a perfect fort/hide out.  He decides to hide his sketchbook journal in it and to his horror, a GIRL adds her own girly drawings to it!  The book's focus is on Aldo and his best friend Jack finding the culprit!
I really enjoyed this book and unlike many other series, I want to read the other titles!
This series will appeal to boy-reluctant readers.  I like it more the Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Appeals to me A LOT- The series is going in ABC order.  Whatever letter of the alphabet is the focus, there are great vocabulary words that begin with that letter.  At the end of the book is a glossary where all of the words are defined.  So reluctant readers are reading a book with rich vocab!!  A win-win!

**Points to discuss:  I did not like the use of "super-dumb" or "duh" a lot in the book but it is meant for an older audience.  A lie is told.
*Highly recommend.

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