Reviews for Second Grade Rules, Amber Brown

The average rating for Second Grade Rules, Amber Brown based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-09-09 00:00:00 Jos� A Machado This easy reader is the last in the A is for Amber Brown series, which ended in 2004, following author Paula Danziger's death. I couldn't get enough of Paula Danziger when I was in middle school, and this story, about second-grader Amber's troubles with a messy desk, reminded me of the reasons I love her writing. Amber Brown loves second grade. She loves her teacher, Ms. Light, who creates special days like pocket day, and she can live with the classroom rules, which involve being respectful, being on time, and doing one's own work. But when Ms. Light introduces a new rule - that each desk in the class should be kept clean - Amber starts to find second grade much more difficult. Ms. Light promises that students with clean desks will be visited by Deskarina, the desk fairy (who is a cousin to Dentina, the tooth fairy), and receive a Clean Desk Award. Amber wants an award so badly, especially when others in her cluster of desks start to receive them. Still, it's hard for her to avoid distractions and actually do the work of cleaning out her messy desk. Finally, though, after practicing on her bedroom at home, Amber learns what she has to do to acheive a clean enough desk to attract Deskarina's attention. What impresses me about well-written readers like this one is the way that authors like Danziger incorporate all the artistry of creative writing into even the simplest stories. Right on the very first page, Danziger writes: When I get to school, Ms. Light beams at me. How fitting that a teacher named for light should beam! And how wonderful that such a vibrant and lively teacher should have such an illuminated name. Danziger also makes great observations about the behavior of young children when they're in a group. I chuckled in recognition when Ms. Light mentioned the tooth fairy's cousin, only to have every student in the class want to tell about his or her own cousins. That phenomenon happens again and again at story time, and during library class visits, and was perfectly captured in this story. I also appreciated that the story empowered Amber to solve her own problem of cleaning her desk. No one does it for her, or even forces her to do it. Rather, Amber learns, through her desire to receive a reward, to put in the effort required to attain it. She doesn't completely alter her personality, or even overcome her messiness, as evidenced by her cluttered bulletin board on the last page, but she makes the effort to clean up when it matters, and reaps the subsequent rewards. And of course, last but not least, Danziger infuses this book with her trademark humor. There were quite a few funny moments, but though it's disgusting this was one of my favorites: My dad is a dentist," Fredrich says, taking his finger out of his nose. "It is good to touch other people's teeth." I hope that Fredrich's father is not a nose-picker like his son. A nose-picking dentist...yuck. Second grade humor at its finest! This book introduces wonderful vocabulary and figurative language, and the story is easy for kids in school to relate to. The parents and other adults reading with the new reader will also be entertained by Amber's observations of the world around her, and will root for her to get that desk award. Amber Brown had fallen off my radar somewhat in the last few years, but I can tell I'll be recommending this series to new readers this school year!

Review # 2 was written on 2011-06-19 00:00:00 Jason Jankowski I'm giving this book 4 stars because it made me laugh. Did you know that there's a desk fairy named Deskarina and the tooth fairy's name is Dentalina? Haha. I also like that Amber Brown discovered a way to do something she thought she couldn't do and turned a bad habit into a good habit. It's a cute, imaginative book, and Haven liked it enough to read it twice. That's saying something.