Stars of the Show

January 1, 2021

K-Gr 3-From authors Calmenson and Cole comes the third story in this beginning-to-read chapter book series. Old, unsafe equipment has caused the closure of the neighborhood playground, but the town fathers are organizing a street fair to raise money. BFFs Allie's and Amy's plans for a storytelling booth are soon forgotten when they decide to enter the fair's talent show contest with a cool new song they immediately begin to compose. Amy, who is white with red hair, starts working, but Allie, a young Black girl with dark curly hair, feels cranky. Her head hurts. She feels awful. She is going home! Dr. Bogwell makes a house call on Allie, conducts a silly examination, and ultimately orders her to stay in bed for a week-but what about the talent show? This story briefly touches on feeling sad, scared, and hurt about being left out, but in the kid-friendly way that young readers expect from the series. Eye-catching line art, plenty of white space, large font, short chapters, a table of contents, a vocabulary list, and conversation-starting "about-the-book" questions are all offered with emerging and reluctant readers in mind. VERDICT This appealing book is a recommended purchase for beginning reader collections.-Cheryl Blevens, Cunningham Memorial Lib., Indiana State Univ., Terre Haute

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