Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Do You Have a Frindle?

Nick Allen is the type of kid that other kids want in their class. He is clever and can always find a way to get a teacher off task in order to get the fun started in the classroom. Now Nick is in fifth grade and he may have met his match with Mrs. Granger. Not only is she the oldest teacher in the school, but she loves the dictionary and requires every student to buy one as one of their school supplies. Of course, Nick does what he normally does and tries to get the teacher off track by asking about where words come from. Unfortunately, his plan backfires and his teacher ends up giving him more homework so that he can answer his own question. It is the extra assignment that really gets Nick’s imagination going. He decides that he is going to use his dictionary assignment to get under his teacher’s skin. Nick and his friends make a plan that from now on they will call a pen a frindle. They set the plan in motion and it isn’t long before Mrs. Grange forbids the word frindle from being used in her classroom. Nick and his friends refuse to back down and everything starts going out of control. Will Mrs. Granger be able to stop the kids in her class from calling a pen a frindle? What would you do if your teacher forbade you from saying something? How would your parents react? You must read this book to see what happens to Nick, Mrs. Granger, and the word frindle!


Frindle by Andrew Clements is a fast moving book that you can read in a day. I loved this book and even laughed out loud at some of Nick’s antics. He would be a blast to have in class, but I am not sure that all the teachers out there would enjoy it in quite the same way. Although Nick likes to get into a little trouble, he really just likes to have a good time. I thought he was easy to relate to as the book progressed because he is smart and has some very imaginative ideas.  Frindle is a book that can be enjoyed by boys and girls from third grade through sixth grade. I think older kids and adults may find this book to be entertaining, especially if they like the English language and vocabulary words (I know it a book that Mr. Morrow will have a field day with when I pass it on to him). I am amazed at how the author created such a unique term! I liked that the book was full of surprises all the way up until the end. The drawings that were included throughout the book also helped to make the story come to life and I had a great time examining them. Pick up this book and you will not be disappointed!

Has anyone else read Frindle?  Or another book by Andrew Clements? What did you think?

Happy reading-

~L 

28 comments:

  1. I haven't read this nor any other book by this author but I know Niece #2 loved Frindle so much so that she and her friends got into trouble at school for making up several words.

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    1. Petty- I am glad to hear Niece #2 loved Frindle. How fun that she and her friends made up words- not so fun about the trouble. :) This is a really fast book and I think most adults could read it in less than 2 hours. Thanks for sharing! ~L

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  2. My family and I listened to this as an audio book on a car trip - it was a great one as a read aloud!

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    1. Andrea- That is awesome that the audio is good as well. I can imagine Frindle would be a great read aloud. Thanks for stopping by! ~L

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  3. Frindle sounds great. I'm curious about its meaning. I've read 'Dear Mr. Henshaw' by Andrew Clements and it was good, good, good. So yeah, I'd try Frindle anytime!

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    1. Claudine- Frindle is a fun book! I bet you will love it- especially since you are so good with words. I hope you enjoy it! ~L

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  4. Nick sounds like a little genius! I love this idea and I bet the Scribe would enjoy this book too :) You always read the best stuff :)

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    1. Elisa- Nick is a little genius. I bet the Scribe would love this book, too. I can see her renaming things and starting a trend! Thanks for stopping by. ~L

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  5. I haven't read this, but now I definitely want to. I'm making a list of books to read when I'm editing my MG series. :)

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    1. Kelly- I would put Frindle on your MG list for sure. It is fast and fun! ~L

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  6. OMG...I used to read this book to my second graders when I taught...there were so many amazing activities to do with it!

    You and I would have been great teacher buddies!

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    1. Patty- I can imagine that 2nd graders would love this book, too. It is so fun! I have read it to my 5th grade class before and we created dictionaries of made up words. The students had a blast!

      We definitely would have been fantastic teacher buddies. :) ~Stephanie

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  7. You got to be kidding me. That's hilarious! This kid is a genius. I love it. I probably like the good little student I am not say the word or I might if I had the guts mutter it under my breath.

    I love A Week in the Woods by him. It's sometimes my favorite. I go back and forth between this other book. I love books about nature or kids showing an adult a thing or two. I think I need to read some Clements.

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    1. Adriana- Nick is a genius! If you read it you will see what the kids in the class do once the word is banned! Frindle is much shorter than a Week in the Woods- so you could probably read it in a few hours (it is close to 100 pages, but there are a handful of pictures troughout).

      I agree with you that A Week in the Woods is good. I also enjoyed The Landry News (a kid shows an adult something there for sure), The School Story. The Janitor's Boy, and No Talking. All of them are fun reads by Andrew Clements. Happy reading! ~L

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  8. It seems the teacher's plan backfired as well. :) I enjoy words and I would love to read this. Have you read "The Several Lives of Orphan Jack" by Sarah Ellis? I read this children's book the other day (my review is yet to be up) and I enjoyed the play of words. Jack's best friend is an old dictionary that does not has an A to B section.

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    1. Nancy- The teacher's plan definitely backfired! I have not read "The Several Lives of Orphan Jack". I look forward to your review- it sounds very interesting! ~F

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  9. Frindle - that is one of the cutest story ideas ever! Sometimes I wish I were a middle grader so I could better enjoy all these wonderful books <3

    Will definitely stop by the library and see what they have by Mr. Clements :)

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    1. MAD- It is a really cute story. I think this is a book that adults can appreciate, too. When you read the story you will see why. :) Happy hunting at the library. ~F

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  10. It seems that Nick by trying to outsmart the teacher ends up learning more in the long run. This book sounds very entertaining and I am sure there are plenty of new words to learn such as: Frindle!

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    1. Heidi- You worded it perfectly! There are lots of new words- but it was also fascinating to find out more about how new words get added to the dictionary. :) ~F

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  11. Oh now, this just sounds way too cute. Makes me want to read it to see how it ends.

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    1. Hi Donna- You could read it in a couple hours. It really is a great story! Happy reading! ~F

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  12. FRINDLE is my go to book for the first novel of the year in my classroom. We always follow up with the kids doing their own inventing. Such a wonderful book. I love the teacher who puts sand all over the classroom floor to make a beach.

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    1. Lelsie- I can see why it is your go to book for the start of the school year. I bet the kinds in your class love to do their own inventing afterwards. What fun! It would be awesome to have a teacher put sand on the floor. :) ~F

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  13. Ah! I love this one! Re-read it aloud with my boys (7 and 10) this spring and they loved it too.

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    1. Michelle- So glad to hear that your boys loved it, too. It is a fun story! :) ~F

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  14. I had a phase where I zoomed my way through all the Andrew Clements books my library had! Frindle and one other are those that I remember most. I loved how playful the characters were and the mischief they got up to!

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    1. Olivia- I have read many of his books and Frindle is still one my favorites. I love the whole idea behind the word. :) Awesome to hear you have read a lot of Andrew Clements books too! ~L

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