The Missing Donut
The Missing Donut
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Publisher's Hardcover ©2018--
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Kids Can Press
Just the Series: Big Words Small Stories   

Series and Publisher: Big Words Small Stories   

Annotation: In The Missing Donut, we meet Cris, a boy who likes things "all in a row," and his cat Crat, who likes to stir up trouble. They are an inseparable pair, but their different personalities lead to all sorts of adventures and mishaps.
Genre: [Humorous fiction]
 
Reviews: 3
Catalog Number: #181792
Format: Publisher's Hardcover
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Copyright Date: 2018
Edition Date: 2018 Release Date: 09/04/18
Illustrator: McBeth, T. L.,
Pages: 52 pages
ISBN: 1-7713-8788-2
ISBN 13: 978-1-7713-8788-0
Dewey: E
Dimensions: 24 cm.
Language: English
Reviews:
ALA Booklist (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Enter multisyllabic words that are fun to say and use. Five different pieces of vocabulary are introduced in mini-episodes featuring a tidy lad named Cris, his messy cat, Crat, and a gang of balloonlike Sprinklers, who loudly announce the impending arrival of a "Big Word! Big Word!" The titular chapter kicks off the language learning: Cris discovers that his jelly donut has been "PURLOINED!" Subsequently, a bike crash leaves Crat feeling "DISCOMBOBULATED," a trio of light-pawed chipmunk thieves leave the boy and his cat "BAMBOOZLED," Crat smashes a Jeff Koons style balloon sculpture into "SMITHEREENS," discovers that "GALOSHES" are terrible footwear for a cat, and finally joins the other characters in folding all five verbal gobstoppers into a simple "Small Play on Big Words." General meanings of the words are clear in context, but the author provides a rudimentary definition (and pronunciation) for each. The text, all dialogue or sound effects, is broken up into easily digestible bits and accompanied by McBeth's small, very simply drawn cartoon images. A HUMDINGER for budding wordplay fans.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

In six everyday-type vignettes, strait-laced boy Cris and his goofy cat, Crat, learn "big words" (including discombobulated and bamboozled) with help from the Sprinkle Fairy. It's pretty obvious that the spot-illustrated stories are written around the vocabulary words, but prompts from the book itself will have kids trying out these new words, which are, yes, big as well as funny-sounding enough to keep their attention.

Kirkus Reviews

Sprinklers say the darnedest things.Let's backtrack. Sprinklers are blob-shaped critters of diverse size and color who are helpers of the Sprinkle Fairy. They appear in each of the six brief, unrelated stories about a boy named Cris and his cat, Crat, to introduce, with fanfare ("Big Word! Big Word!"), an unfamiliar word to emergent and early-middle-grade readers. There's an arbitrary feel to the presentation, as though the tales were constructed around the words. The words are ones readers may not have realized they might want to know: "purloined," "discombobulated," "bamboozled," "smithereens," and "galoshes." More commonplace words in the stories that young children may feel are equally important, including "wizard," "fairy," or "sprinkle," aren't singled out (although, granted, they aren't as big). Each new word gets special treatment: It's used several times in context, sometimes in different forms; a pronunciation guide is provided; and it's defined at the story's conclusion. The final tale reinforces all the new vocabulary. Perhaps due to this conceit, the stories are only faintly amusing, with endings that fall flat. The cartoon illustrations, however, reminiscent of those in Mo Willems' Elephant & Piggie books, are whimsical, expressive, and appealing, and they feature ample white space and capitalized sound effects. Cris and the Sprinkle Fairy are both pale-skinned, but depicted groups are diverse.It's not the worst way to introduce some new, unusual words, but this is unlikely to stimulate repeat readings. (Early reader. 5-8)

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ALA Booklist (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)
Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)
Kirkus Reviews
Reading Level: 1.0
Interest Level: K-3
Lexile: 420L

Here’s a collection of short stories with a twist. The five stories all feature the misadventures of a boy named Cris, who “likes things all in a row,” and his cat, Crat, who “likes to mix things up.” Running within each of these lighthearted stories is another story, this one about the Sprinkle Fairy, owner of a word factory in Sicily, “where the best words in the world come from.” The Sprinkle Fairy has a team of helpers, called the Sprinklers, who have slipped one of her big words (like, discombobulated) into each of the small stories. Luckily, the Sprinklers provide warnings right before the big words appear (“Big word coming!”) and include their pronunciations and meanings afterward. Then, a bonus story at the end — “A Small Play on Big Words” — uses all the big words together.

Judith Henderson has created an innovative approach to an early reader that involves children in simple, fun-to-read stories, while using a clever, playful device to enrich their vocabularies at the same time. The quirky stories are funny, with storylines that build on each other. The appealing blend of deadpan and slapstick humor in the text is paired with multiple spot illustrations by T. L. McBeth on every page. The tone and accessibility are pitch-perfect for emerging readers. This title is part of a three-book series — each book with its own character duo, but all starring the Sprinkle Fairy and her Sprinklers.

The missing donut
It's all downhill
The trouble with chipmunks
Museum of Fabulous Art
Mr. Footz's fine footwear
A small play on big words.

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