8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel ÷ 1 Dog = Chaos

by Vivian Vande Velde, Steve Björkman (Illustrator)

Overview

Twitch, the school yard squirrel, has really gotten himself into a bind this time. While trying to escape from a hungry owl, he roused Cuddles, the principal's dog, and got chased into the school. Now he's locked in for a disastrous and hilarious night. Can Green Eggs and Hamster, Sweetie the Library rat, and the other school pets save Twitch from the crazed Cuddles? In this laugh-out-loud funny chapter book, a group of small animals manage to turn an elementary school into a real zoo.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823430918
Publisher:	Holiday House, Inc.
Publication date:	01/24/2014
Series:	Twitch the Squirrel , #1
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	80
Sales rank:	1,282,140
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Vivian Vande Velde is best known for her award-winning thrillers and fantasy novels for young adults, including Companions of the Night and A Hidden Magic. Her middle-grade novels include Witches Wishes. She lives in Rochester, New York. You can visit her website at www.vivianvandevelde.com.
Steve Björkman has illustrated more than seventy books for children, including Supersnouts!, which he also wrote. He lives in Aliso Viejo, Calfiornia. His website is www.stevebjorkman.com.

Editorial Reviews

When Twitch, the schoolyard squirrel, gets into the school, all sorts of craziness ensues.

Told in the voices of classroom pets in various rooms, this fast-paced romp imagines a day in which the squirrel, pursued by an enthusiastic dog (owned by the principal, naturally), wreaks havoc in an elementary school. As Twitch races from room to room, the animals attempt to help him escape his tormentor. Running, in order, from first grade to fifth grade as well as to the library, art and science rooms, the animals leave a heap of damage in their wake. Traditional classroom pets (hamster, rabbit, rat, tetras, parrot, turtle, snake, geckos) narrate the action from their points of view. The action is predictably frenetic, but the changes in voice from chapter to chapter provide a refreshing and humorous diversion from most chapter-book fare. Each animal has a distinctive style of speech, which helps the reader keep everyone clear. Galileo and Newton, the two geckos, with their scripted dialogue, and the school of fish, chanting together, "We are in a school. We are in a school in a school," are particularly effective. Occasional pen-and-ink spot illustrations add energy to an already high-octane story.

A whole lot of fun. (Fiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews