I have a special treat for you today! My 11-year old son Jonathan loves to read graphic novels and wants to write book reviews for my blog. I don't know how long this will last, but I'm going to ride the wave while I can!
Please note that I did help him clean up the grammar and punctuation. All the words, ideas, readalikes, and ratings below are Jonathan's, but we worked together to elaborate on the ideas and improve the grammar, quotation marks, and punctuation. So many teachable moments with this new project!
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Nate knows he's meant for big things. REALLY big things. But life doesn't always go your way just because you're awesome. Trouble always seems to find him, but Nate keeps his cool no matter what. He knows he's great. A fortune cookie told him so.
JONATHAN'S REVIEW:Big Nate is a funny comedy story about a kid who hates school (like every kid) and his best friends. Nate also has a crush on a girl named Jenny since Kindergarten. He calls his English teacher the “devil.” You should see some of the pictures he draws of the teacher!
Nate does his own thing in his own way. Everyone thinks he is a dufus because he doesn’t think; he just does whatever he wants to do. My favorite Big Nate book is Welcome To My World. It is pretty funny. Nate and four other main characters are in it. I hope you enjoy reading them!
Recommended for ages 8 and up. There are some words used like “dufus,” “the Devil,” “stupid,” and “idiot” that I think are inappropriate for some younger readers who might look up to the characters in the book as role models.
THEMES: bullying, school, humor
THE BOTTOM LINE: Read this book if you are looking for something funny but not sappy or empathetic.
READALIKES:
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RATING BREAKDOWN:
CONTENT:
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Please note that I did help him clean up the grammar and punctuation. All the words, ideas, readalikes, and ratings below are Jonathan's, but we worked together to elaborate on the ideas and improve the grammar, quotation marks, and punctuation. So many teachable moments with this new project!
  | AUTHOR: Lincoln Peirce SERIES: Big Nate, book 1 PUBLISHER: HarperCollins PUBLICATION DATE: March 23, 2010 ISBN: 9780061944345 PAGES: 224 SOURCE: own it and many others in the series GENRE: graphic novel, humor SETTING: GIVE IT TO: ES, MS |
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Nate knows he's meant for big things. REALLY big things. But life doesn't always go your way just because you're awesome. Trouble always seems to find him, but Nate keeps his cool no matter what. He knows he's great. A fortune cookie told him so.
JONATHAN'S REVIEW:Big Nate is a funny comedy story about a kid who hates school (like every kid) and his best friends. Nate also has a crush on a girl named Jenny since Kindergarten. He calls his English teacher the “devil.” You should see some of the pictures he draws of the teacher!
Nate does his own thing in his own way. Everyone thinks he is a dufus because he doesn’t think; he just does whatever he wants to do. My favorite Big Nate book is Welcome To My World. It is pretty funny. Nate and four other main characters are in it. I hope you enjoy reading them!
Recommended for ages 8 and up. There are some words used like “dufus,” “the Devil,” “stupid,” and “idiot” that I think are inappropriate for some younger readers who might look up to the characters in the book as role models.
THEMES: bullying, school, humor
THE BOTTOM LINE: Read this book if you are looking for something funny but not sappy or empathetic.
READALIKES:
RATING BREAKDOWN:
- Overall: 4/5
- Creativity: 5/5
- Characters: 5/5
- Engrossing: 3/5
- Writing: 5/5
- Appeal to students: 5/5
- Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5
CONTENT:
- Language: mild; stupid, idiot, dufus, pop quiz
- Sexuality: mild; unrealistic kissing
- Violence: mild; noogies, some fights
- Drugs/Alcohol: none
 | Jonathan is 11 years old and lives in Shanghai, China. He loves dogs, science, swimming, and video games. His favorite books are science books and graphic novels. He hopes to be a cosmologist when he grows up, and no, he doesn't mind the "twenty years of school" he'll need to go through to make that happen. |
