Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, pictures by Marla Frazee

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker is going to be the next big thing in transitional chapter books. Everyone loves spunky girls who are creative and imaginative. Girls who find themselves in hilarious and crazy situations, but are really just good kids at heart.

When I was little, I was not one of those girls. I was small, quiet, and very well-behaved. I don’t think I ever saw the inside of a principal’s office, and I was almost afraid of the boisterous kids. Like their energy might knock me off my feet if I got too close. Now, when I read children’s books, I’m not usually drawn to these crowd-pleasing spunky gals—I can’t really relate.

What is so wonderful about Clementine, though, is not necessarily the character of Clementine herself, who is in many ways a typical third-grade heroine of contemporary children’s literature. Rather, it is Sara Pennypacker’s amazing way with words that is so delightful. Clementine’s voice is so charming, funny, and refreshing that even I was won over by her spunk.

From the very first page, Clementine’s fun, no-exposition-necessary voice comes shining through:

I have had not so good of a week.

Well, Monday was a pretty good day, if you don’t count Hamburger Surprise at lunch and Margaret’s mother coming to get her. Or the stuff that happened in the principal’s office when I got sent there to explain that Margaret’s hair was not my fault and besides she looks okay without it, but I couldn’t because Principal Rice was gone, trying to calm down Margaret’s mother.

Someone should tell you not to answer the phone in the principal’s office, if that’s a rule.

Okay, fine, Monday was not so good of a day.

That Pennypacker got the whole story of Margaret’s hair told in one sentence is genius. And, now that I think about it, no one ever told us not to answer the phone in the principal’s office when we were kids either.

Clementine’s week just gets worse from there, but she does have the opportunity to use her creativity to help her dad with a pigeon problem and her kindness to make up with her best friend. At the very end of the week, when it seems like the worst thing in the world will happen to her, my eyes welled up and I began to sniffle a little. Then, when she gets a very pleasant surprise instead, I cried I was so happy for her.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see many more episodes of Clementine’s life arriving in the next few years. There is no way the world will let this be the last of this delightful girl's adventures.

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, pictures by Marla Frazee

Tags: children's+books imagination pigeons Sara+Pennypacker