How to Make Friends With a Giant [Hardcover]

Gennifer Choldenko (Author), Amy Walrod (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Jake is the shortest kid in his class. And new kid Jacomo is the tallest. When Jake meets Jacomo at the bus stop he can’t believe they’ll be classmates— Jacomo is so tall.Taller than tall.A GIANT.When the other kids tease him, little Jake comes to his defense. He knows fitting into their first grade class isn’t going to be easy for someone as big as Jacomo, but pretty soon the two of them find that when they work together, they have a team that’s just the right size.

Full of silly size-related predicaments and school situations every child will relate to, this is a funny and uplifting friendship story by Gennifer Choldenko, the Newbery Honor-winning author of Al Capone Does My Shirts, illustrated with a wild sense of humor by Amy Walrod.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2–Because Jake is the shortest kid in his class, he is either dismissed or teased by his classmates. Then Jacomo arrives, and the focus of the children's derision shifts to him. He is enormous–he's too big to fit on the school bus, and he crowds the other children at storytime. Jake befriends the new boy, teaching him how to kick a soccer ball so it doesn't disappear and defending him when the others insist he doesn't belong. By the end of the day, the two are best friends, and Jake has never felt so tall. This is a quirky tale of two opposites who find common ground because they are regarded as different, but who together make a good team. It is unfortunate (but perhaps also realistic) that the other children never come to truly value either boy, and that their consistent meanness is never addressed by their teacher. Walrod's highly stylized color cartoons are a good match for the text.–Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
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About the Author

Gennifer Choldenko lives in California.

Amy Walrod lives in Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399237798
• ISBN-13: 978-0399237799
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 7.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,049,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gennifer Choldenko received a B.A. from Brandeis University, graduating cum laude with honors, and a B.F.A. in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. Gennifer's first picture book is titled Moonstruck: The True Story of the Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon. Reviewers called Moonstruck "hilarious" (School Library Journal), "hysterical, irreverent" (National Parenting Center), and "a giggle from beginning to end" (Publishers Weekly). Gennifer was the youngest in a family of four kids, where her nickname was "Snot-Nose." Her quirky sense of humor made its debut at the dinner table when Gennifer was a very little kid. After that, anything strange and funny became known as a Gennifer Joke.Currently, she lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and their two children. When she is not writing, she likes to draw animals at the zoo, especially crocodiles and turtles because they lie perfectly still. Notes From a Liar and Her Dog is her first novel for children.