Muggie Maggie [Paperback]

Beverly Cleary (Author), Tracy Dockray (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

What's all the fuss about?

At first, Maggie is just being contrary when she tells her parents she doesn't need to learn cursive. Then her teacher, Mrs. Leeper, says Maggie's cursive is so untidy her name looks like "Muggie," and Maggie decides she will never, never read or write cursive. Nobody can make her. But when Mrs. Leeper appoints Maggie class mail messenger, the notes Maggie must carry are in cursive. Maggie can't read the notes, but she suspects some of them are about her. Now she really has a problem!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In PW 's words, "Fans who have eagerly awaited a new Cleary novel will find this story wrought with the same understanding and sympathetic humor that have warmed the hearts of two generations of readers." Ages 7-12.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-- With the introduction of Maggie Schultz, a feisty and independent third grader, Cleary again gives young readers a real person with whom they can identify and empathize. This deceptively simple story is accessible to primary-grade readers able to read long hand, as some of the text is in script. The plot develops around Maggie's defiant refusal to learn cursive writing, one of the mainstays of the third-grade curriculum. When her mother queries her about how long it might take her to decide to write cursive, Maggie answers, "Maybe forever." All the while she fervently wishes that she had never taken such a stand. The problems Maggie creates for herself at home and at school are handled with deft wit. Her parents are alternately understanding about their daughter's determined desire to be her own person and irritated by her stubbornness and the ensuing requests for school conferences about her uncooperative behavior. How Maggie's savvy teacher accomplishes her goal of getting Maggie to learn cursive without an unpleasant confrontation, or loss of face on either side, is both clever and believable. Everything in this book rings true, and Cleary has created a likable, funny heroine about whom readers will want to know more . Order two copies; you'll need them! --Martha Rosen, Edgewood School, Scarsdale, NY
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380710870
• ISBN-13: 978-0380710874
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( C ) > Cleary, Beverly

More About the Author

Beverly Cleary's birthday, April 12th, is celebrated across the country on D.E.A.R. Day, with activities related to the Drop Everything and Read Program. One of the most popular and honored authors of all time, Beverly Cleary has won the Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw, and both Ramona Quimby, Age 8 and Ramona and Her Father have been named Newbery Honor Books. She makes her home in coastal California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Miss Smith's Book Club #2, November 17, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Muggie Maggie (Paperback)

We really enjoyed it and it was funny! Our favorite part was when Maggie learns how to do cursive. We think other third graders would enjoy this book; maybe even younger kids, too. We think we will read more Beverly Cleary books now that we have read this one.

Charlie, Jakob, Allison, Lindsey and Shannon

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, June 26, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Muggie Maggie (Paperback)

This book got me interested in cursive handwriting when I was in the first and second grade. I was in a classroom mixed with first and second graders. Everyday for writing, the grade 1's would practice printing and the 2nd graders would practice handwriting, which looked very hard and I dreaded second grade. But when I reached transferred to another school in second grade, the teacher read Muggie Maggie to the class and just in time too. I also liked looking at the cursive writing included in the story and found it to be rather beautiful, and slowly I began to learn it once we started, and soon enough, I was able to master it. In Maggie's case, she felt as if she didn't need to learn how to do it because she preffered writing notes on the computer, and at the same time, she felt as though cursive challenged her gifted and talent capabilities, but would not admit it. The school did the "write" thing by having her be the class monitor and deliver messages to the principal written in cursive writing, and when she was curious to see what the notes said she realized she couldn't read cursive writing, and sure enough, she got the hang of it and practiced it secretly, and all was well at the end. But this book also has a lot of humor and captures the essence of the characters in this book. Beverly Cleary is like a child at heart and has a great understanding of putting herself in children's shoes, and that's why she has written great story books that are still being read by today's generation, whether it's Henry Huggins or Ellen Tebbits books that came out almost 50 years ago or all of our favourite character Ramona's books that have lasted for what seems like forever. I hope to read another book from Maggie in the future if Cleary continues writing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Muggie Maggie, November 28, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Muggie Maggie (Hardcover)

Muggie Maggie is about a girl named Maggie who does not want to write cursive.Her teacher,mom and dad try to make her do it but she still refuses to do it.But once she haers people all over the school talking about her she makes herself write it.This book makes me feel sad in a way.It makes me sad because she refuses to right cursive and because it took her that long to write it.I reccomend this book because she had someing that she couldn't do and some people have the same thing and I want some kid to know that there are other kids like them even if they aren't real.