Girls with Gray Matter, and a Smart Fly

This is the last of the Geisel Award and Honor winners!  Hope you enjoyed reading about them

DiCamillo, K. (2010) Bink & Gollie. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press

Bink is a fast talking, excitable girl.  Gollie is smooth, calm, and eloquent.  They are both eclectic in their own way.  Bink likes crazy socks and goldfish, while Gollie reserves days just for adventuring in her own mind.  Despite their differences, they share a love for fun times, adventures, panckaes,and each other.

I quite enjoyed this book.  The style is something like a graphic novel.  It is completely illustrated, but the panels tend to be free form and without lines. The story is all told in dialogue and picture.  Bink and Gollie seem so polar, it’s so fun to see those differences clash when they get together.  Just as fun, is seeing how they can agree and compromise.

Arnold, T.(2005) Hi! Fly Guy. New York, NY: Scholastic

Buzz is on the hunt for a new pet.  He (rather accidently) catches a fly.  When he finds out it can say his name, he knows it must be special.  He names it Fly Guy.  Everywhere Buzz goes people tell him that a fly cannot be a pet, it is a pest, but Buzz is out to prove them wrong.  He enters Fly Guy into the “Amazing Pet Show” contest.  Can fly guy impress the judges enough to change their minds?

                This book (and the whole series) is very fun and silly.  The artwork, the flow, and the way Fly Guy says “Buzz!” all make it that way. Fly Guy has always been one of my children’s favorite characters to read about.