Best Laid Plans

We've all experienced Murphy's Law moments or even an entire day.  We think we know exactly what we are doing and when we are doing it but then life puts first one twist, another twist and even a third twist in what we believed was a straight path.  As we are trying our best to navigate these new curves, opportunities for greatness are revealed.  Our true character has a chance to affect change.

In February of 2016 readers young at heart were introduced to the trio known as the Furry Fiends brought to life by Victoria Jamieson in The Great Pet Escape (Pets On The Loose) (Henry Holt and Company).  George Washington, aka GW, a hamster in a second grade classroom, Sunflower, a guinea pig, residing among kindergarten students and Barry, a bunny, pet to a group of first graders, continually find a way to enjoy a variety of pursuits after hours.  The trio of pals has returned in The Great Art Caper (Pets On The Loose) (Henry Holt and Company, June 13, 2017).  Their plans go awry when their arch nemesis and her cohorts promote trouble, big trouble.

Ever since the Great Food Fight Fiasco, life at Daisy P. Flugelhorn Elementary School has been surprisingly...

quiet.

For each day of the week the Furry Fiends meet in the kindergarten room in the evenings holding Poetry Slams, Sweatin' to the Oldies, Puzzle Pals, Scrabble Dabble Doo and Knit Wits.  During a Thursday night game GW unwittingly reveals his sincere affection for one of the second grade students, Carina.  He tells his friends he would like to make Carina a gift because of her entry in The Juried Art Show the following evening.

None of their first floor classrooms have the snazzy things needed to make a truly amazing gift.  They decide to venture to the second floor despite the possible meeting with Harriet, an evil mouse, her Minions, more mice than you can count and Lucinda, a constantly hungry snake.  Normally getting to the second floor can be tricky but never fear, GW has one of his inventions, "Stair Getter Upper."

When they arrive at the room with art materials galore, they are so engrossed in their projects, they barely have time to scamper to the supply closet before Harriet, The Minions and Lucinda enter. While in hiding they overhear an evil plot, The Great Art Show Caper.  It would mean the destruction of students' work and the removal of GW from his classroom.  YIKES!

A capture, an escape, a plan of daytime daring-do, a trap, another scheme, and a choice place our Furry Fiends in one predicament after another.  A bucket of plaster of Paris, puzzle skills and glue all play a part in the hold-your-breath-I-can't-look conclusion.  The art of friendship has never been better.

When the three companions or the other characters are not engaged in conversation, Victoria Jamieson has GW continue the story as the narrator.  Besides guiding the plot these conversations supply readers with in-depth knowledge of the various personalities. Each of the eleven chapters ends with a sentence which urges you to keep going.  These Furry Fiends simply don't rest and you won't want to either.

Throughout the story a current of humor runs strong.  You will find yourself smiling or chuckling out loud more than once.  Here is a sample passage from a series of panels.

Harriet's left us alone recently.
Maybe she's turned nice.

Get real, Barry.

She was awfully angry 
after her Lunchtime
Surprise scheme failed.  I
don't like going so close
to her classroom---it's
too dangerous.  Forget I
mentioned it. 

But what about the glitter?  And the
pom-poms?  And the...tissue paper?

And what about my present for Carina?
We've faced dangerous situations before.
Isn't it worth taking a little risk to do
something nice for a friend?

Okay, okay.  But it won't be easy.  For one thing, we have
to figure out a way to get up those stairs.

Don't worry about that.  Bring your helmets
and meet me by the stairs in ten minutes!


If Harriet is scowling, as shown on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case, you know GW is confident about his latest idea to thwart the nasty mouse.  Sunflower is not quite so sure but Barry the bunny is ever the optimist.  What we don't know is why they are making a mess with art supplies, but we can't wait to find out.

To the left, on the back, reading like a top secret school record, GW, Sunflower, Barry and Harriet are listed with their pictures on the left and essential information, name, legal name, species, occupation, crimes and for Harriet, her accomplices, is shown on the right.  The opening and closing endpapers are a bright sky blue.  On the title page an artist's canvas has pictures of the Furry Fiends but Harriet has left her additions scribbled on it with the words Harriet Wuz Here.

Each of the panels on each page is edged in a fine, loose, black line.  Between the panels is a small amount of white space. Sometimes an image will have a character speaking without being framed at all.  The details, edible crayons in the kindergarten room, the helmets worn by the trio, GW's ingenious gadgets, Lucinda's changing body shape and Sunflower's creative knitting will have readers grinning from ear to ear.  The facial expressions certainly convey moods but they extend the humor and excitement a great deal.

One of my many favorite illustrations is wordless and covers an entire page.  GW and Sunflower are parachuting by holding pieces of fabric from the second floor to the outside of the school.  Barry waits for his turn.  They are all carrying a little something extra which is part of a unique plan.  GW has shouted Gooooooooooooo.  The students are unaware of what is happening above them.  This scene captures the sense of adventure in which these friends greet each day.


This graphic novel, The Great Art Caper (Pets On The Loose) written and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson, is so good as soon as you finish it, you'll open the cover and read it again.  You don't want to leave the characters, especially GW, Sunflower and Barry.  They are three separate, distinctive classroom pets, but there is no doubt of their loyalty to each other.  This book, like the first one, works splendidly due to the teamwork displayed by the trio.  I highly recommend it for your professional and personal bookshelves.  I will include it in my Halloween giveaway this year along with book one.

To learn more about Victoria Jamieson and her other work please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  At the publisher's website you can view the first eight pages.  If you are introducing Victoria Jamieson for the first time to your students or children, you might want to reference the first post.  I included her Newbery Honor Award thank you video.

Chaos In The Classroom

As an educator there will be pets and critters of all kinds in your classroom; it's inevitable.  They will be there as welcome or surprise guests or as permanent members for the school year.  If you are a teacher librarian in your building the number of animal visitors increases.

Classrooms want to share their pet bringing it to the library for a lesson, individual students bring in their much-loved pals and then there are those students who've captured something from the out-of-doors they can hardly wait to show you.  These gals and guys come to you before school or between classes carefully carrying a jar with a lid punched full of holes or a larger box in a similar state.  You learn over the years to quickly and cheerfully ask what is in the container.  You may be asked to identify the animal, discover its favorite habitat or meal and always to share in the joy of "look what I found."

Most pets residing in classrooms as valued members have been selected for particular qualities.  Obviously the safety of all the students is important.  Ferocious Fluffity: A Mighty Bite-y Class Pet (Abrams Books for Young Readers, July 19, 2016) written by Erica S. Perl with illustrations by Henry Cole proves normal behavior can go awry.

The box was big and tall and wide.
Could there be a pet inside?

There was a pet inside; an adorable looking bundle of fur.  They were advised to

"Look---don't touch." 

by Mr. Drake their teacher.  They named her Fluffity.  Everyone wanted to take her out of her cage and hold her.  Everyone.

One morning Mr. Drake was late.  The students saw this as a golden opportunity.  Fluffity was removed from her home.  YIKES!  She bit the gals.  She bit the guys.  She bit everyone.

The children ran like crazy from the room voicing their distress.  Like Mary's nursery-rhyme lamb that hamster followed them everywhere.  Mr. Drake finally arrived at his classroom, upset to see the mess.  Searching for his students and the wayward Fluffity Mr. Drake walked straight into trouble.

Tricks were tried but nothing worked until a clever student substituted the behavior of one furry friend for another.  Rest assured things are more normal in Room 2-D now.  All will be well...or will it?


We are enticed to read and race along with the action through the rhyming, rhythmic story penned by Erica S. Perl.  She captures our attention with the "what-if" suggestion of a classroom pet gone wild and keeps it with one comedic moment after another.  As the tension builds we don't expect the "why-didn't-I-think-of-that resolution or the concluding twist.  Here is a sample passage.

Children screamed and children ran:
Zander, Zara, Sydney, Stan,
Kevin K., and Kevin B.
At their heels was Fluffity.


Rendered in watercolor the illustrations created by Henry Cole for this title are brimming with wide-eyed innocence and curiosity in contrast with disbelief and understandable panic.  This heightens the pure fun.  Readers can see this first on the dust jacket.  Fluffity looks cute as can be on the front but as our eyes move left to the back we see a continuance of the tabletop.  In the center of the page Mr. Drake and his students are peering anxiously from behind an overturned table they are using as a barrier.

On the book case an interior image, enlarged, shows six students running down the hallway in fear with Fluffity hot on their heels.  That a tiny hamster could be the cause of this kind of mayhem is hilarious.  As a compliment to the yellow on the book case background, the opening and closing endpapers are purple.  Even before the story starts Cole has six small images of Fluffity on the title, verso, and dedication pages.  She looks the very picture of harmless except for her love of chewing indicated on the handle of a pair of scissors and a ruler.

A palette full of cheerful color is used throughout on nine two-page images, several pages of smaller illustrations on white and three single page visuals including one final uproarious picture.  Point of view is shifted to draw our attention to particular scenes.  Cole's special brand of humor is evident in the characters' facial expressions as well as the details in his visuals.  Two of the bulletin board headings proclaim:

YOU'RE OFF TO A GOOD START WITH A GOOD BOOK

BOOKS YOU CAN REALLY SINK YOUR TEETH INTO! 

One of my favorite illustrations of many is of the children in the gym.  They are all gripping the rocks on the climbing wall, looking in fear at the small hamster waiting below them.  Fluffity appears tiny in comparison but by now readers know the truth.


As a lively read aloud sure to ignite shared laughter Ferocious Fluffity: A Mighty Bite-y Class Pet written by Erica S. Perl with illustrations by Henry Cole is a fantastic selection.  The text and images work together to give readers a story to be enjoyed repeatedly.  I can hear the shared giggles and grins already.

To learn more about Erica S. Perl and Henry Cole and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  Erica S. Perl has another site which can be viewed here.  Both Erica S. Perl and Henry Cole were interviewed at Reading Rockets with links respectively here and here.  On Scholastic's Ambassador for School Libraries John Schumacher's blog Watch. Connect. Read. the book trailer for this title is revealed as well as an interview with Erica S. Perl.  At educator Colby Sharp's blog, sharpread, Erica S. Perl is interviewed about this title, reading and writing.   Her responses are sure to make you smile.  Two years ago Henry Cole was a guest at The Picturebooking Podcast.