Crafty Chloe [Hardcover]

Kelly DiPucchio (Author), Heather Ross (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: February 21, 2012 | Age Range: 4 and up | Series: Crafty Chloe

Fancy Nancy meets Martha Stewart in Crafty Chloe, the adorable DIY star of a new picture book series!

When another girl has already purchased the most perfect birthday gift for Chloe’s friend Emma, Chloe decides she’ll make a present—something you can’t buy in a store. But crafting isn’t easy, and it’s beginning to look like she won’t have a great idea in time. Fortunately, with a good doodle session and a whole lot of glitter to inspire her, Chloe figures out just the thing to save the day—and with a little help from her trusty glue gun, she just might save a friendship, too!

This inventive and irresistible picture book will have young readers itching to reach for their googly eyes.

Check out CraftyChloe.com to learn how to make the cool crafts featured in the book!

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

More of a storybook than a craft how-to (young crafters can take comfort in the link to a website with instructions for making the crafts depicted), this vignette features a young girl dealing with feelings of inadequacy, peer pressure, and birthday-gift one-upmanship. Chloe isn’t very good at sports, video games, or dance; she excels, however, at making clothes and other crafty pursuits. She fears her homemade gift will never measure up to glamor gal London’s fancy purchased doll, but in true happy-ending fashion, it’s the dress and doll bed Chloe makes that save the day at the birthday party. Pencil-and-digital art in pastel colors render the everygirl drama in an accessible, cartoon style. The girls’ facial expressions are priceless, especially when they face off across paragraphs, London looking scornful on the left and Chloe with an exaggerated blasé shrug on the right. A pleasant girl-centric story ideal for those beginning to make the leap from shorter picture books. Grades 1-3. --Diane Foote

Review

* “Crafty Chloe is the creative cousin of Clementine. Ginger haired, with an adorable taste in free-to-be-me outfits and a heart of gold, this young heroine finds original and kind-hearted solutions to big problems…. DiPucchio is to be commended for providing a simple and strong story with a loving solution that will surprise readers. Strong pacing and fanciful illustrations full of happy yellow highlights capture a delightfully determined and winning child. Ross gives Chloe a sweet individuality that makes her memorable and likable. A corresponding website provides crafting ideas and instructions. Required reading for any child going to a birthday party.”

--Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2011, *STAR

“This vignette features a young girl dealing with feelings of inadequacy, peer pressure, and birthday-gift one-upmanship…. The girls’ facial expressions are priceless…. A pleasant girl-centric story ideal for those beginning to make the leap from shorter picture books.”

--Booklist, December 15, 2011

“DiPucchio’s writing has an amusingly wry conversational tone…. Ross’s snappy illustrations, with high-spirited pencil lines touched with digital color, depict wide-eyed, redheaded Chloe at home in a detailed crafty girl’s paradise where tubes of glitter, sewing patterns, and scraps of paper litter the floors, and Chloe’s dog, Bert, is an expressive and supportive assistant.”

--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January 2012

“This book loudly shouts that everyone has talents and encourages children to develop those things they do well…. In Chloe, the author has created a gracious spirit who gives of herself. Illustrations support the story’s playful mood.”

—Library Media Connection, Recommended

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (February 21, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442421231
• ISBN-13: 978-1442421233
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing! Delightful! and Crafty! April 3, 2012

By em-il-ie

Format:Hardcover

Oh. My. Goodness.

My 5 year old received this book for her birthday and, after reading it, I want a copy just for me. It is delightful in every way AND teaches a number of valuable lessons without jamming it down children's throats (a pet peeve of mine).

The illustrations are wonderful and the story is a delight.
A very definite 5 STARS.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Trials and Tribulations of a Creative Girl March 29, 2012

By VReviews VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Chloe is a wonderful character. She's clever, talented, sweet, and industrious. She sees opportunities to fashion jewelry, hats, cloths, you-name-it from all kinds of leftover scraps, and household materials. She doesn't quite fit into doing the usual activities of young school girls (sports, video games, dance), but she creates, has fun, and has a great friend in Emma.

It's planning for Emma's birthday gift when things begin to go awry for Chloe. Enter London, the classic girl who seems to be up on all the latest trends, and who has a knack in using a tone of voice, and lifted eyebrow to invoke doubt, and insecurity in those around her. Through a series of mishaps, Chloe is put to the test as she navigates the minefield of being true to herself, vs. the expectations of friends. This is a fantastic true-to-life picture book that will provide and provoke great classroom discussions about how we treat one another. Outstanding illustrations full of color, humor, and nuance.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book April 23, 2012

By Don

Format:Hardcover

Super cute book about being generous with your time and talent even when others are not so nice. Shows what being a true friend really means.