Clarice Bean, Scram by Lauren Child

What worked:

The font is surprisingly entertaining as the author blends different styles, sizes, shades, and positioning to tell the story. This technique is sometimes used to display strong feelings or to stress meanings. Larger, bold-faced fonts are used to emphasize Marcie’s anger toward Clarice or when their neighbor is furious over a soccer ball in her birdbath. The playful letters can be found on virtually every page and remind me a bit of some poetic formats. The author is also the illustrator and the abundant color and black-and-white illustrations work beautifully with the amusing narrative.

This book presents a wonderful story for upper-elementary readers. Clarice’s problems are common as she angers her older sister, gets bored during summer vacation, and feels a little jealous when the neighbor boy gets a temporary rabbit. Her parents go out of town for a couple of days which offers the opportunity for all kinds of mischief. The stray dog following her home becomes the focus of the plot as Clarice tries to figure out what to do with it. She can’t let it suffer in the summer heat, can she?

The plot is simple and uncomplicated so it fits the target audience and developing readers. All of Clarice’s attention and efforts are focused on the dog and what to do about it. Other things happen but the narrative doesn’t deviate from the dog once it enters the story. Clarice knows she must keep it a secret from her family while resolving the situation before her parents return. All of the events are realistic and believable including purchasing spaghetti with the green label, digging through collected coins to make necessary purchases at the corner store, and the puppy chewing things it shouldn’t.

What didn’t work as well:

While the playfulness of the text is unexpected and fun, it’s not always clear why the author manipulates certain phrases and words. It sometimes feels overdone and loses the impact it might have had if it had been used more prudently.

The Final Verdict:

This book is the ninth in a series but it can easily be read independently. It tells a delightful tale of a young girl dealing with realistic problems arising from one stray dog. It should appeal to elementary-age students and I recommend you give it a shot.