Frindle Author: Visit Amazon's Andrew Clements Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0689818769 | Format: PDF
Frindle Description
From Publishers Weekly
Trying to aggravate a tough language-arts teacher, a fifth-grade boy invents a new word for pen: "frindle." Soon, the whole country is using it. "Dictionary lovers will cotton to this mild classroom fantasy," said PW. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 3^-6. Ten-year-old Nick Allen has a reputation for devising clever, time-wasting schemes guaranteed to distract even the most conscientious teacher. His diversions backfire in Mrs. Granger's fifth-grade class, however, resulting in Nick being assigned an extra report on how new entries are added to the dictionary. Surprisingly, the research provides Nick with his best idea ever, and he decides to coin his own new word. Mrs. Granger has a passion for vocabulary, but Nick's (and soon the rest of the school's) insistence on referring to pens as "frindles" annoys her greatly. The war of words escalates--resulting in after-school punishments, a home visit from the principal, national publicity, economic opportunities for local entrepreneurs, and, eventually, inclusion of
frindle in the dictionary. Slightly reminiscent of Avi's
Nothing but the Truth (1991), this is a kinder, gentler story in which the two sides eventually come to a private meeting of the minds and the power of language triumphs over both. Sure to be popular with a wide range of readers, this will make a great read-aloud as well.
Kay Weisman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Age Range: 8 - 12 years
- Grade Level: 3 - 7
- Lexile Measure: 830L (What's this?)
- Paperback: 112 pages
- Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (February 1, 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0689818769
- ISBN-13: 978-0689818769
- Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
At long last! An early reader chapter book designed to give full all-encompassing glory to language itself! Sort of. I first heard about "Frindle" some five years ago when it was burning up the bookshelves across the country. Kids couldn't get enough of the semi-raucous tale of one boy's attempt to make a contribution to the English language. Cleverly, author Andrew Clements has created a book that doesn't fall back into the old good vs. bad/teacher vs. student riff we all know so well. Though a book that is written with fairly young readers in mind, it successfully renders huge themes in bite size portions.
Nick Allen is used to getting great ideas. Who could forget his fabulous third grade attempts to turn his classroom into a sunny tropical isle in the dead of winter? Or his successful utilization of bird calls to annoy a fourth grade prof? But now Nick has come across a real challenge and her name is Granger. Mrs. Granger. As the woman in charge of the elementary school's language arts, Mrs. Granger is a true aficionado of the wonders of the dictionary. After tangling, and losing, with the clever teacher, Nick springs upon a brilliant idea. Why not add his own little word to the world's vocabulary? The idea comes to him in a flash, and before you know it he's grabbed the nearest pen and renamed it "frindle". As Mrs. Granger retaliates, defending (what in her mind is) the perfectly serviceable and already existing word "pen", frindle's popularity and publicity grows and grows. Yet in the end, it seems as though Nick was playing into Mrs. Granger's hands all along.
Accompanied by the really well wrought and beautifully designed illustrations of Brian Selznick, the book is just a low-key amusing look at how words affect people.
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