Maybelle Goes to School

April 1, 2015
Maybelle the daring cockroach of Maybelle Goes to Tea (2008, etc.) makes decisions with her sweet tooth. Maybelle, in her fourth outing, has not lost a bit of her spirit for adventure, despite following The Rules for cockroach safety, including, "never meet with human feet." It's Maybelle's fondness for cake that leads to her latest adventure, when she accidentally hijacks a ride to school on Mrs. Peabody's Ten-Layer Tower of Taste cake for the school bake sale. Luckily for Maybelle, her buddies Ramona the cat and Henry the flea join her at school. It's sharing day, and Ramona is gussied up with a bow. The friends work together to save Henry from the flea circus that one of the neighbor boys is starting. While Henry turns out to be quite the fashion plate-he loves the little pants the boy puts him in-he does not love being trapped in a cup. His quick-thinking cockroach buddy comes up with a plan to free him, turning this slim volume into a cinematic escape. Expressive and energetic pen-and-ink illustrations on every spread help transitioning readers decode any challenging words and enjoy the story. Ample space between words and generously sized typeface support reading too. High-spirited action with well-developed characters make this series a hit every time. Where will Maybelle end up next? (Fantasy. 5-9)

April 1, 2015

Gr 2-5-This short chapter book is the fourth in the series about Maybelle, a mildly anthropomorphic cockroach, who wears a big bow on her head and lives under the Peabodys' refrigerator. She and her flea friend Henry end up at a school bake sale and have many humorous escapades while avoiding the dangerous humans (and cats and tarantulas). The text is clear and straightforward, and the chapters are brief. Black-and-white line drawings are sprinkled throughout as spot art, giving sympathetic expressiveness to the bugs while setting up the humans as foes. VERDICT Kids will be entertained by Maybelle's adventures as they practice their reading skills.-Heidi Estrin, Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2015
Grades 1-3 Once again Maybelle's love of cake lands her in unwanted adventure. This time, she falls asleep in Mrs. Peabody's 10-Layer Tower of Taste, headed for the school bake sale. Henry the flea comes, too, riding on the stomach of Ramona the cat. Before the day is over, Henry is captured for a flea circus (and dressed in tiny pants), Maybelle narrowly escapes a tarantula, and she heroically saves Henry, before driving off into the remains of the once-glorious cake. Transitional chapter-book readers will embrace this madcap, engaging story of a well-meaning cockroach with limited self-control.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)