Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Frankly Frannie by AJ Stern

Stern, AJ and Illustrated by Marts, Doreen Mulryan Frankly Frannie , 128 pgs. Grosset & Dunlap, 2010. $4.99. Early Reader.

Frannie (aka Frankly) is a little girl with a whole lot of personality. She is opinionated and smart but no matter her good intentions seems drawn to accidentally making trouble. More than anything Frannie wants to be more adult like and really would like a job. When her class goes on a field trip to a radio studio, Frannie finds herself on air. Her advice to a caller sets off a chain of events that lead to a quite a few learning experiences.
I adore this book. Through creative writing, cute illustrations, and font changes, the character of Frannie comes to life as quirky, fun, and incredibly interesting. Her adventure is purely from a youngster’s point of view, in contrast to many books where I can feel the presence of an adult writer trying too hard to be childlike. While life lessons were learned, they felt like a natural part of the story, rather than the whole point of the story. Only the first book in the series, I look forward to reading them all.
EL–Advisable. Reviewer: Stephanie MLS graduate.

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