The Anastasia Series
The Sam Krupnik Series
Just The Tates
The Quartet
Gooney Bird
Standalone Books
Gooney Bird Greene
Two-time Newbery Medalist Lowry (The Giver; Number the Stars) introduces a feisty, friendly heroine in this light novel. Readers know immediately that red-haired, freckle-face Gooney Bird Greene is as unorthodox as her name: wearing pajamas and cowboy boots, she arrives at the door of her new second-grade classroom all alone, “without even a mother to introduce her.” She announces she has just moved from China (which turns out to be the name of a town, not the country) and demands “a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything.” Dressed each day in another eccentric outfit, she relays to the class a series of stories that are “absolutely true” even though they initially seem anything but. Stretching the facts creatively through some wily wordplay, Gooney Bird explains how she spent time in jail (while playing Monopoly), acquired diamond earrings at a palace (they came from a gumball machine in an ice cream shop called The Palace) and directed a symphony orchestra (she directed the lost driver of the bus transporting musicians to the auditorium). Interruptions from curious classmates heighten the fun. Never mind the dubious likelihood that a second-grader would possess such command of language and pithy delivery; youngsters will likely hope that Gooney Bird has enough tales stored in her fertile imagination to fill another volume.
Gooney Bird and the Room Mother
Mrs. Pidgeon’s second grade classroom is in the midst of chaos. The Thanksgiving pageant is coming up. They don’t yet have a room mother, and the principal is becoming impatient. Who’s right smack in the middle of everything? Who comes to the rescue? Gooney Bird Greene, of course!
And who is to become the class room mother?
“I’ll write it down,” Gooney Bird Greene said. She went to the board and picked up the chalk. “Class,” she said, “get out your dictionaries.” She wrote a word very carefully on the board, at the end of the list.
The word she wrote was INCOGNITO.
“This is our room mother’s name,” she said.
Gooney the Fabulous
The third book about Gooney Bird Greene is now available in bookstores! It’s December in Watertower Elementary School. The school dog is obligingly wearing fake antlers for the holiday celebration. Mrs. Pidgeon’s classroom is studying fables and creating their own. Malcolm hasn’t yet adjusted to the baby triplets at home; and – oh dear! – Nicholas has a mysterious problem. Once again, though her socks don’t match and her lunch is always a peculiar assortment, it’s fabulous Gooney Bird who saves the day.
Gooney Bird Is So Absurd
“What is that on your head, Gooney Bird?” Mrs. Pidgeon asks her always outrageous second-grader. “Underpants?”
“It can be whatever you want it to be,” Gooney Bird replies. “Just like a poem.”
Mrs. Pidgeon’s class, in January, is learning about poetry. Some of them, following Gooney Bird’s example, do warm their brains by wearing underpants on their heads. Gradually they discover that poetry can warm their hearts as well.
Gooney Bird On The Map
Feisty and full of ideas (as always), Gooney Bird Greene is back.
It is now February in Mrs. Pidgeon’s second-grade classroom. There are valentines to be made and presidential birthdays to be celebrated (Gooney Bird makes sure no one forgets poor William Henry Harrison, even if he was only president for one month). But hearts and U.S. history pale in comparison to what is on every kid’s mind: school vacation. The children squirm excitedly and can’t stop chattering about surfing in Hawaii or snowboarding in Vermont. However, exactly 12 minus three of them (Mrs. Pidgeon can sneak a math problem in anywhere) do not have any exciting travel plans at all. They are glum. Luckily, Gooney Bird has an outlandishly fabulous idea—they will build a map of the entire United States outside in the snow on the playground. All of this geography talk can’t go to waste! The true-to-life voices and a multitude of personalities make it easy for readers to step into Mrs. Pidgeon’s class and feel right at home.
Gooney Bird doesn’t need much help putting herself on the map. She’ll be famous for years to come. — Kirkus
Gooney Bird and All Her Charms
Gooney Bird and her second-grade classmates are studying the human body. The students are in for a surprise when her uncle, Dr. Walter Oglethorpe, an anatomy professor, loans them a skeleton to help them with their research. They use it as an opportunity to teach the whole school about the human body as they label where different parts would be, such as the brain, muscles, digestive system, etc. The skeleton, on display outside the school to show the location of the respiratory system, goes missing, and Gooney Bird becomes head detective, leading her class on an investigation to solve the mystery. The youngsters are enthusiastic, outgoing, and funny. The running joke throughout the story is, “Mrs. Pidgeon’s second grade finds this humerus.” Readers will discover important facts about anatomy as they follow along with this remarkable class. Line drawings bring to life the unique scenarios the students create for the skeleton. A great choice for beginning chapter-book readers
