Mighty Adventurer of the Planet (Beryl E. Bean, Book 1) [Paperback]

Ricki Stern (Author), Heidi Pesky Worcester (Author), Amy June Bates (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 18, 2002 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Beryl E. Bean (Book 1)

Two weeks ago she was a soccer queen; now she's been sidelined by a broken arm. Beryl's sooooooooooooo bored, until her stepfather suggests she become a Mighty Adventurer of the Planet -- dedicated to solving mysteries and finding adventures. Now Beryl and her new best friend, Mary P., are going behind the scenes at the natural history museum, where their help is desperately needed by a team of scientists hunting for a missing dinosaur bone.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ten-year-old Beryl E. Bean has some big shoes to fill as the newest spunky, inquisitive heroine to grace a series for primary-grade readers. The star striker on her soccer team, Beryl thrives on all the guts and glory. But when she's sidelined with a broken arm, her soccer obsession (and her ego) are dealt a terrible blow. On the sidelines with her injury, Beryl meets a much-needed new best friend, Mary P. Stir-crazy. Beryl accepts a mysterious challenge from her friendly, involved stepfather: she will "embark on an adventure extraordinaire" as a Mighty Adventurer of the Planet, and Mary P. will play sidekick. Though Stern and Worcester do a respectable job of introducing a cast of characters and an intriguing scenario, their plot fizzles a bit, losing plausibility once the girls' adventure begins (Beryl helps the paleontologists at the natural history museum make a useful discovery). The book's busy, magazine-like design colored pages with colored type in varied fonts, drawings, digitally rendered collages and borders, etc. demands a certain sophistication from readers, who will need to make sense of unconventional punctuation and paragraphing, etc. The language, too, is more complex than is generally found in books for newly independent readers; on the other hand, more experienced readers are likely to lose patience with the thin plotting. Still, those who have exhausted the adventures of Amber Brown, Ramona Quimby, Harriet Welsch and notebook-keeping Amelia may enjoy finding a new girl on the block. Ages 7-9.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-If you can imagine a chatty first-person narrative with a grab bag of graphic elements, you'll already have a sense of this book. Beryl E. Bean is a 10-year-old "soccer queen" who has recently been dethroned by a broken arm. She is, in a word, BORED (spelled out in scrabble tiles on the page). Warren is Beryl's stepdad, the kind of upbeat parent who paints little faces on his big toes with nail polish, and buys Beryl multiple packs of Milk Duds to ease her pain. He channels the girl's natural inquisitiveness as a "Mighty Adventurer of the Planet" (or "MAPster") into a sleuthing escapade at a natural-history museum, along with her friend Mary Priscilla. While the bare-bones plot and high-energy art are appealing, much is lacking in old-fashioned, compelling storytelling. The narrative is a confusing stream-of-consciousness dialogue without traditional cues like quotation marks; a change of voice is signaled by italics, colored type, and the insertion of dialogue boxes. Cameo appearances by myriad forgettable characters add to the confusion. Beryl herself is problematic: her unbridled self-esteem wears thin quickly. Despite the abundance of color illustrations and juvenile vocabulary ("barf-o-rama"; "cow poop") that might appeal to beginning readers in theory, Mighty Adventurer requires, in fact, the word skills and concentration of abler, more sophisticated readers. Unfortunately, there is not enough substance here to warrant their attention.
Mary Ann Carcich, Mattituck-Laurel Public Library, Mattituck, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: HarperTrophy; 1st edition (June 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064421201
• ISBN-13: 978-0064421201
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,277,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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