Why I Love Clementine...Again!

Sara Pennypacker has followed up the first two Clementine books with another great one. Clementine is one of my all time favorite characters and she is just as funny, ornery, and lovable as ever. In this episode, Clementine's teacher is nominated for a special program that will take him out of the classroom for the remainder of the year. Clementine feels betrayed by this and writes a bad, but humorous, letter of recommendation to ruin his chances. Along the way, Clementine sells other people's donations to charity, endures misunderstandings with the substitute teacher, and helps her best friend Margaret through some tough times. Here are my Top Ten Reasons I Love Clementine:

1. She lives in Boston, my favorite city.
2. She calls her baby brother vegetable names. In this book she branches out to Chinese veggies like bok choi and bamboo shoot. We have yet to learn his real name.
3. She wants to make her mom happy so she can see her "Wow! I must be dreaming! face."
4. She asks the principal, Mrs. Rice, random questions like "Do you like tatoos?" Clementine does, Mrs. Rice does not!
5. She is an expert at giving sting ray eyes, arrow eyes, and high power sting ray eyes!
6. She says hilarious third grade things.
7. She keeps adding rhyming names to her friend Norris. By the end of the book he is up to Norris-Boris-Morris-Horace-Brontosaurus.
8. She is a good and loyal friend to Margaret. Even though Margaret has way too many rules.
9. Even when she is bad, she is funny and adorable.
10. She knows what makes a great teacher and has a way with words when she describes one.

"And without you even knowing it, he will teach you how to make beans. And here is the tricky part: somehow you will think you learned it all by yourself! Plus, you'll think making beans is the most interesting thing in the world to do, because my teacher makes everything interesting!"

AWESOME! This is the description we all strive for everyday in the classroom. Clementine is my hero, thank you Sara Pennypacker!