Review #47: Big Whopper by Patricia Reilly Giff

Title: Giff, Patricia Riley. ZigZag Kids : Big Whopper. Wendy Lamb Books. 2010. 66 pages. Tr. $11.09. ISBN 978-0-385-74688-5
Genre: Fiction
Reading Level/Interest Level: (Publisher Recommended) 2.9/K-3  (My recommendation Grades 1-3)
Awards: None
Series: Zigzag Kids
Similar Titles: Junie B. Jones Loves Handsome Warren by Barbara Page
 

Destiny’s favorite place is the After School Center, where she can play with all of her friends and participate in fun activities like art. If only bossy, know–it-all Gina weren’t there. When Discovery Week is announced,  and all the kids are required to discover at least 3 new things and post them to their designated sections of wall in the hallway, Destiny doubts there are any discoveries left to be had. Unfortunately, one day, flabbergasted, frustrated and trying to out do Gina, Destiny tells a whopper of a lie, that her greatest great granddad was President Abraham Washington. 

When Destiny and her best friend Mitchell realize the next day that not only did they leave the incriminating drawing in the art room, entitled and all, but that Gina is using the news as her discovery  to post in the hall and that soon Destiny’s favorite teacher will learn she has been lying, it’s almost too much to bear. Thwarted at every turn, Mitchell finally acquires the picture and destroys it, but Destiny knows she must come clean and mend fences. She might even learn that she and Gina, might not be so different after all, and that discoveries can be made very close to home.

This was a cute beginning chapter book. With no actual description of the Destiny’s grade level, I can see this title being most appropriate for 1^st and 2^nd graders, based on the length, vocabulary, setting, situations and number of illustrations. Similar to the Junie B. Jones books, this is a good entrance into series reading that can help children branch out into other novels, without feeling completely alienated from what they are used to. It is also a good example of books that encourage developmental assets such as developing relationships, self-respect, self-esteem, feeling respected, listened to and valued by adults and finding a sense of community.