Clementine

"Someone should tell you not to answer the phone in the principal's office, if that's a rule."

"Principal Rice rolled her eyes to the ceiling then, like she was looking for something up there.  Ceiling snakes maybe, just waiting to drip on you.  That's what I used to be afraid of when I was little, anyway.  Now I am not afraid of anything.

Okay, fine, I am afraid of pointy things.  But that is all.

And boomerangs."

Clementine has has "not so good of a week".  On Monday, to start things off, she tries to help her friend Margaret by cutting off all her hair, which turns out to be not so helpful after all.  The week goes from bad to worse until she starts to worry that Margaret could be right.  Her parents are up to something and Clementine is sure that all the clues point to getting rid of her!  Maybe they've decided her little brother is the "easy one" and that's all the need!

Why I Love It

As a child I loved Junie B Jones books.  There's just something about such a fun, spunky narrator.  As an adult, I struggle with Junie because I find her a little bit whiny and I struggle with her bad attitude.  Clementine has all the sassy spunk and flair without the whining.

As someone who has ADD myself, I like that you get a glimpse into the mind of an easily distracted child.  It's fun as an adult to realize that the things that seem so random in her behavior actually make sense if you can follow her train of thought.  I also like that Clementine has a problem solver mentality instead of a victim mentality.  She's definitely the kind of kid I'd love to have my children be friends with, even if the friendship stays on the page.

Marla Frazee has also created beautiful illustrations to go with this story making it a great book to bridge the gap for young readers between picture books and novels.

You Should Know

Although Clementine mostly shows a great mindset toward solving problems, she doesn't always solve them in the best ways.  This makes for a great chance to talk with your child about what solutions she chooses that are awesome and when she could have thought of a different solution.  What would/could/should they do in similar situations?
Here are a few problems Clementine 'solves' to get you started:
- Margaret cuts out a piece of her hair because it had glue in it, so Clementine cuts off the rest of her hair.
- Margaret is sad because her hair is gone, so Clementine colors her remaining hair.
- Clementine's father is tired of cleaning up the "pigeon splat" from all over the front of their building, so Clementine purposes that they put tiny diapers on all the pigeons.
And that's just the beginning!

There are a whole pile of other books that Sara Pennypacker has written about Clementine, but I haven't read them... yet.

Talking Points

• Read page one, what do we already know about Clementine from just one page?
• Whose fault do you think it is that Margaret’s hair is gone?
• If you were Margaret, would you still want to be friends with Clementine after the hair incident?  Why or why not?
• Why does Clementine call her brother Spinach or Broccoli?  Why is her brother "the easy one"?
• Why did Clementine say she has “arthritis”?
• What does Clementine mean when she says she is “allergic” to staying still?
• Compare Margaret and Clementine.  How are they alike?  How are they different?  Do either of them remind you of someone you know?
• Why do you think Margaret lied about her braces hurting to Clementine?
• Why is Margaret allowed to play with Clementine now?
• What is the Great Pigeon War?  What are some of the ideas Clementine has to solve the Great Pigeon War?  What was actually causing the pigeons to stay in front of the building? How did Clementine solve the Great Pigeon War?
• When Margaret became friends with a new girl they did not invite Clementine to play. How do you think Clementine felt?  Why?
• Have you ever lost a pet? What do you miss most about them? What do you do so that you can remember them?
• What did Clementine try 29 times? What does that tell you about her personality?
• Why is Clementine worried about the party her parents are throwing?  Give some of the clues that are making her worry. Would you be worried if your parents were planning a similar surprise party?  Why or why not? Tell what the surprise party was really like.
• Clementine likes to name her cats after beautiful words she finds in the bathroom.  What interesting names or nicknames have you given to family, friends, pets, or toys like stuffed animals?  How did you come up with these names?
• Which of Clementine’s spectacularful ideas have been good ones and which have not worked out so well?  What spectacularful ideas have sproinged up in your brain lately? What did you do with them and how did they work out?