Debbie Dadey

Strange events are stirring at Bailey School, and this time it's all about aliens. The art teacher disappears, a strange humming noise rattles the class, and a substitute teacher with a specialty in art just happens to be waiting in the principal's office, all on the same day. Eddie thinks Mrs. Zork is odd from the beginning, but he is still the skeptic when Howie claims that she is an alien. Howie is sure that she arrived in her spaceship to steal the color from their town, a claim show more supported by the fact that the day she showed up she was startlingly pale and white, and each day since her color has improved while the colors around her are fading. In particular, she seems to target particular people for colors that she really wants. Liza and Melody tend to believe Eddie over Howie, but as the strange occurrences keep stacking up, they are increasingly unsettled. When Mrs. Zork touches Mrs. Jeepers' green brooch and the teacher rushes home, feeling drained, the kids know they need to act or be stuck with their principal as substitute for the rest of the year.

As a beginning reader chapter book, the story is short, with small chapters that are easy to read. The narrative never feels stilted, using a variety of recognizable and challenging vocabulary words, and the sentences are diverse but not complex. The Bailey School series is a fun choice for early readers, because the content is one that fascinates most kids (monsters and the supernatural), while the setting is a place they all know well (school). In this book, the four friends take on an alien from outer space, who is sufficiently mysterious and spooky without being too scary - she is only draining color, after all. As with other books in this series, the authors leave the answer about whether the teacher really is a creature unanswered, and the reader has to use her own judgment. Given the clues dropped, Mrs. Zork is clearly an alien. Still, the fun in the series is that kids have to make their own decisions, and since their power of inference is not as mature, there are sure to be children who fall on either side of the debate. Certainly a good choice for children embarking on chapter books, that will satisfy them and their fellow adult readers. show less

A great beginning for a series of short novels for early-ish readers (more involved than the books labelled "readers" at libraries but far less complex and long than what I think of as "actual novels," these feel like parts of a book rather than complete and shapely installments).

Our child is wild for these stories and laughs a lot at the little goofy moments. When we're reading one it's the big topic of mealtime conversation: what would he do if he were a Keyholder? how would he deal with show more goblins? which link would he want? Etc., etc., etc. Interestingly, although these are far on the low end of his reading level, he wants me to read them aloud before he rereads them on his own time--he really, really enjoys talking about them and having us experience the stories along with him. They're not especially suited to reading aloud--the language is serviceable, not gorgeous--but it's not awful, either.

Meanwhile, we're all happy that these books don't fall into sexist stereotypes and assumptions, unlike so many books for young readers. Even Luke's aversion to wearing a bracelet for fear of being teased for girliness is portrayed as bad judgment and silliness more than anything else. Bonus points for Penny pointing out that a boy can wear a tutu if he pleases, and implying that he won't be bullied if he's at a school that's run properly and has a healthy culture! show less

This chapter book was a joy to read because of the plot, the language style, and the illustrations. This chapter book follows the Bailey School kids as they believe they encountered a ghost in Eddie's great Aunt's creepy, old house. I liked the plot because it was very engaging from just the title: "Ghosts Don't Eat Potato Chips", throughout the story there are many factors that leave the Bailey School kids wondering if there really is a ghost. Howie spilled his bag of chips on the floor and show more they spelled out "Attic" right after Howie looked up at the attic and saw a shadow of a man. Also after making a mess in the great Aunt's kitchen, the kids come back and find the kitchen spotless.The language style was descriptive and engaging in the way it described the kids feelings: "All the kids gulped when they saw what was inside the hat." The language throughout kept you turning the page to see what happens next. The illustrations in this story were scratch board, black-and-white but they allowed the readers to gain insights on what was happening on a certain page. This further engaged the reader into the story to be able to see illustrations throughout the chapter book. show less

Kids face down a vampire sucking the sugar sucking all the sugar out of all the candy in town. And I could not care in the least.

It was almost impressive that this book about an egg hunt and marshmallow bunnies manages to entirely avoid the word "Easter." The illustrator must not have got the memo, though, as she slipped it into one picture.