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43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best kid's books I've read, February 16, 2002
This review is from: Frindle (Paperback)
As an elementary school librarian, I can say that "Frindle" is one of the finest books for intermediate grades I have read in a long time. I only regret that I didn't read it years ago, so I could've been recommending it to teachers to read-aloud and to students who would like a humorous, yet thought-provoking, story. Like most successful books for kids, "Frindle" works on many different levels. It's funny, fast-paced, and while the main character, Nick, is kind of a class clown, he has qualities that even a mean teacher like Mrs. Granger would like. And even though Mrs. Granger has a reputation for being strict, she also earns the respect of children and parents. While some situations are a bit far-fetched, this story is still quite realistic. We get a glimpse how a seemingly insignificant event at a small town elementary school through a media-frenzy becomes an international phenomenon. Can anyone say "fad?" 3rd through 6th grade teachers should consider reading this book about the invention of a new word, "frindle," to their classes. Both teachers and students will enjoy it.
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The frindle is mightier than the sword, July 6, 2004
This review is from: Frindle (Paperback)
At long last! An early reader chapter book designed to give full all-encompassing glory to language itself! Sort of. I first heard about "Frindle" some five years ago when it was burning up the bookshelves across the country. Kids couldn't get enough of the semi-raucous tale of one boy's attempt to make a contribution to the English language. Cleverly, author Andrew Clements has created a book that doesn't fall back into the old good vs. bad/teacher vs. student riff we all know so well. Though a book that is written with fairly young readers in mind, it successfully renders huge themes in bite size portions.
Nick Allen is used to getting great ideas. Who could forget his fabulous third grade attempts to turn his classroom into a sunny tropical isle in the dead of winter? Or his successful utilization of bird calls to annoy a fourth grade prof? But now Nick has come across a real challenge and her name is Granger. Mrs. Granger. As the woman in charge of the elementary school's language arts, Mrs. Granger is a true aficionado of the wonders of the dictionary. After tangling, and losing, with the clever teacher, Nick springs upon a brilliant idea. Why not add his own little word to the world's vocabulary? The idea comes to him in a flash, and before you know it he's grabbed the nearest pen and renamed it "frindle". As Mrs. Granger retaliates, defending (what in her mind is) the perfectly serviceable and already existing word "pen", frindle's popularity and publicity grows and grows. Yet in the end, it seems as though Nick was playing into Mrs. Granger's hands all along.
Accompanied by the really well wrought and beautifully designed illustrations of Brian Selznick, the book is just a low-key amusing look at how words affect people. Clements includes an array of interesting facts and ideas, some of which even adults will find themselves astounded by. For example, the book states that in 1791 a Dublin theater manager made up the word, "quiz" on a bet and that this word was (until the creation of "frindle") the only word in the English language made up for no particular reason. I tried to ascertain if this was true by glancing through my impossibly old Webster's Third New International Dictionary. When I looked up "quiz" I hit the following sentence: Unknown origin. That's proof enough for me, though I'm sure a glance through the OED would clear everything up. And how many books written with middle readers in mind give you such clever facts couched in an interesting story? I was delighted with the characters in this book. From clever Nick and his ideas to Mrs. Granger, an adult who is truly an intelligent match. Any villainy this book presents later turns out to be no more than a clever ruse. So kudos for giving teachers the credit they deserve at last! Kudos indeed.
A good pairing of books of this reading level with similar protagonists would be "Frindle" and the slightly more recent Lois Lowry offering "Gooney Bird Greene". Both books observe the use of language and how it affects us and both have clever red headed protagonists that defy all expectations. I doubt you could find two better books to present to kids with the hopes of getting them involved in reading. I give "Frindle" an especially warm recommendation and I am sure kids will be inspired by it. Go! Read! Enjoy!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A kid's review, May 1, 2009
This review is from: Frindle (Paperback)
Have you ever had a teacher who made life really tough for you? Well, Nick Allen did. When Nick was in 5th grade, he had a teacher named Mrs. Granger and she had a reputation for being tough and mean. When Nick tries to stall class by asking Mrs. Granger where words come from, she makes him answer his own question with an oral report.
Nick learns that we make the words in the dictionary. One day as he's walking home with his friend Janet, Janet drops her pen. Nick picks it up for her and accidentally calls it a "frindle" instead of a pen. He finally understands what Mrs. Granger was trying to teach him. Soon, he convinces his friends to start using the word "frindle" too. Before long, the whole school is saying it.
This makes Mrs. Granger very mad. She creates The Frindle Punishment. Anyone who uses the word must stay after school to write, "I am writing this punishment with a pen." 100 times. The students start taking this punishment as a badge of honor. This is my favorite part because the students are standing up for themselves.
Not everyone is so happy about Mrs. Granger's new punishment. A newspaper reporter named Judy Morgan learns about frindle and comes to the school to find out more. Then things really get crazy!
If you want to know what happens next, you'll have to read the book. I think you should read the book because it's realistic and funny. I like to imagine that something like this could happen to me.
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