Julie Sternberg

I’m not sure I can write about this beginning chapter book objectively, because I have some very strong opinions on what I think of as the American Daycare Culture and this book pinged off many of my ranting sensors. So, this is more of a rant than a review. Skip or read, as you prefer.

Ellie is going to tell us the story of her very bad August before third grade. One day, her parents sit her down and tell her the bad news: Bibi is leaving. Bibi has been her babysitter her whole life. Bibi, show more “makes me soup when I am sick…holds my feet when I do handstands…knows which of my teeth are loose…rubs my back when I am tired…”

In other words, Ellie’s parent is leaving. She’s the one who knows all Ellie’s routines, puts her to bed when her parents are late (which appears to be often) and picks her up from school. Ellie’s parents take a little time off work (punctuated with Very Important phone calls) to console Ellie, try to get her to be friends with the aggressive little girl downstairs, and finally find her another babysitter, Natalie, and Ellie learns to like her.

Can you feel the rant building? Yep. Why the heck did Ellie’s parents have a child? Bibi has apparently spent more time with her than her parents and witnessed all her childhood memories. Ellie’s parents are a little more caring than some neglectful parents, but not much, in my opinion. Ellie’s devastation when Bibi leaves verges on clinical depression but she’s quickly forced into accepting perky Natalie. In other words, her mother is gone and now she has a big sister. I see therapy ahead for Ellie, and some serious abandonment and relationship issues.
I’m feeling a bit ranty about this because of some of the problems we’ve been having with our library, as well as some work I’ve been doing with a why-the-heck-did-you-have-kids daycare, where parents can dump their kids off and the daycare dresses, feeds, and sends them to school, then picks them up after school, helps them with homework, feeds, and otherwise takes the place of their parents until the poor, busy people pick them up and take them home to bed. In a few years, many of those kids will be the 5th, 6th, and 7th graders – and younger siblings – who hang out at our library for two or more hours after school, often not going home or getting picked up by their parents until well five or even six.

When do these kids interact with caring adults, other than a harassed teacher who’s dealing with 20 or more kids at the same time. From what they’ve told me, they spend their weekends watching tv and playing video games. Who listens to them when they have a problem at school, when they’re scared or worried? Who shows them there’s a world of education and experience outside the four walls of their school? Who makes sure they’re not getting bullied and teaches them how to interact with groups other than their peers? Who encourages their interests and expands their minds beyond homework and tv?

Well, transient nannies if they’re fortunate enough to live in Ellie’s world. If they’re not, a few more years down the road and they’ll be back in the library, functionally illiterate, unemployed, stuck in bad marriages or relationships, and producing more kids for the cycle to start over.

*deep breath* I did mention I felt strongly about this didn’t I? I’m not saying every woman should be a stay at home mom – or every father either. There are many caring parents who don’t spend every minute of the day with their children, who work hard to have time with their kids and arrange for the best possible situations for them. Many kids turn out fine without much contact with their parents. But it still makes me mad.

Verdict: If you live in an area where there are a lot of kids with nannies, you might consider this book. It could also be comforting for a child who’s lost a beloved teacher (*cough* educational babysitter *cough*). The publisher recommends ages 8-10, but the language has the stilted and choppy style of an easy reader, so I wouldn’t hand this to anyone over nine at the most and would say it’s best for much younger kids.

ISBN: 9780810984240; Published March 2011; ARC provided by publisher at ALA Midwinter 2011 show less

I am all for works of fantasy and sci-fi to tell stories that pull the reader into different worlds and experiences. However, there's something to be said about introducing a piece of realistic fiction to an emerging reader so that they can feel that 'so someone has felt the same things that I have' feeling. When you're growing up, it's so easy to feel isolated and alien. You feel like your problems are huge and that no one could possibly understand your pains, frustrations, or anguish. And show more then a little book like this one comes along. Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg follows a little girl called Eleanor who experiences suffers abandonment and all the attendant stages of grief that come along after when the babysitter she's had her entire life moves away. With Eleanor's adjustment to a new babysitter who is wholly different from Bibi, she learns that sometimes change is good and relationships can survive distance. This is a good lesson for us all I think. This book is perfect for the emerging reader (probably why it was recommended in Excellent Books for Early and Eager Readers). It's written in short, simple sentences (somewhat oddly structured on each page) with illustrations by Matthew Cordell liberally spread throughout. 7/10 show less

I had issues with the first book in this series, Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie. Someone did later point out to me "well, duh the text is choppy, it's free verse." My opinion is that reformatting text into looking like poetry doth not poetry make. However. I bowed to the weight of public opinion and purchased the the first book for the library where it circulated fairly well. So I agreed with myself to give the second book a chance and it turns out I liked it much better than the first show more one.

Eleanor's grandmother signs her up for camp - the same camp Eleanor's mother went to. Eleanor is excited, especially after the fun stories her friend tells about her camp. Then she realizes she will be away from her parents for nine days. There are a whole bunch of girls she doesn't know. Everything is very...outdoors. There are bugs, the food is icky, and she gets put in the baby swimming class. She does make a sort-of-friend, the tall and weird Joplin, but after the first day she wants to go home! With some help from the camp director and her guidance counselor, she does enjoy a few things about camp and manages to make it to the end.

Eleanor isn't the typical little girl of most beginning chapter books. I kind of sympathize with her dislike of camp, not being an outdoors person myself (other than a bit of gardening). She's a picky eater, sensitive, not athletic, and very much an only child, not used to living with other kids (or anyone really, since her parents are gone all the time it seems like). But she manages to stick it out and find some good things about camp after all. I liked that the author didn't do the typical thing and make her a huge fan of camp by the end "Sometimes--not always, but definitely sometimes--camp was a wonderful surprise." I still don't think much of the poetry from a literary standpoint, but it does work in this context and if the kids just see it as a shorter book, instead of thinking "oh this book is in poetry" that's ok too.

Verdict: Fans of the first book will definitely want to read this one. It's also perfect for those little girls who don't mesh comfortably into a group. Eleanor's fears, troubles, and triumphs ring true throughout the book and even kids who like camp and sloppy joes will be able to sympathize a little with her private reactions to what everyone else thinks is wonderful.

ISBN: 9781419701900; Published April 2013 by Amulet/Abrams; ARC provided by publisher at ALA Midwinter 2013; Purchased for the library show less

Soon-to-be third grader, Eleanor Abigail Kane, is not pleased to hear her parents say they have "difficult news" for her. She learns that it is the worst news ever and she is very unhappy. A bit of time and a bit of trying new things makes her realize that life may not be as terrible awful as she thought it would be. Life being different might even be nice in its own way. I loved this charming book and would recommend it to any child who is sad about going through difficult changes.