Fortunately

This amusing picture-book follows the wildly fluctuating fortunes of Ned, a young New York boy who is (fortunately) invited to a surprise party. Unfortunately, the party is far away... but fortunately, a friend loans Ned an airplane. Unfortunately, the motor explodes... but fortunately, Ned makes it to the parachute. And so it goes, back and forth, as Ned makes his adventure-filled way to a party, where there is one final twist in store...

I enjoyed Remy Charlip's Fortunately - my first title by this prolific picture-book author/artist - and imagine that young readers will find its deadpan back-and-forth humor even more hilarious than I did. I really liked the way that the illustrations alternated between brightly colored skies, when show more depicting the "fortunate" scenes, and dull, gray-toned black-and-white vistas, when depicting the "unfortunate" ones. It really added some extra oomph to the story! All in all, a fun little book, sure to appeal to young readers looking for a tale where anything can happen. show less

Remy Charlip was a choreographer, dancer, poet, artist and children's book author. He's also one of my favorite authors of children's books.

His books are surreal and playful. Fortunately builds on a series of events much like The House the Jack Built nursery rhyme. Each new event poses a new problem that requires a solution. The problem comes with "unfortunately" and the solution is provided with "fortunately."

The basic story follow's Ned's travels from New York to Florida to attend a party he has been invited to. On the way he has a number of misfortunes, each one more surreal than the previous. And yet all these apparently random events do help Ned reach his goal.

Ned has been invited to a surprise party in Florida. Unfortunately, Ned lives in New York. So it begins...as Ned travels in an airplane only to have the plane explode as he falls from the sky in a parachute that has a hole in it. Ned is fine. This book is illustrated beautfully and simply. The word "Fortunately" tells the tale of how Ned extricates himself from each unfortunate event. The word "unfortunately" begins the unfortunate event. The fortunate pages are in color and the unfortunate pages in black and white. Of course Ned ultimately ends up at the party. He is never hurt although he comes close. This book would be read in the middle elementary grade levels because it could be a little bit scary for the extra young children. This show more book could lead into discussions about whether or not the boy would get hurt and then we can talk about how if we make a mistake or something doesn't go the way we want it to that it will end up being okay in the long run. show less

I discovered this one through a Heavy Medal post! (https://heavymedal.slj.com/2024/11/15/fortunately-unfortunately-the-best-and-worst-qualities-of-newbery-contenders/) Each page turn alternates between "fortunately" (in full color) and "unfortunately" (in black and white), as a man receives an invitation to a surprise party and encounters obstacles along the way.

It's hard not to give this five stars because I loved it so much as a child. But, with adult eyes, I guess it's more of a "4". The pictures are a bit outdated, but I still love the idea of this "good news/bad news" book. The events are so random but somehow it all works!

Fortunately is a wonderful book to read aloud for kindergarten, first, second, and third graders. This book is about a boy named Ned who goes through fortunate and unfortunate events. I really enjoyed the books ups and downs.This book can be used as an example for students to learn how to make their own good bad, good bad, story.

This picture book is great for students because it can teach them about cause and effect in an engaging and different way. The story is about a boy who wanted to go to a party and so may things happened in between the whole process, but he finally made it to his destination. The different colored pages help the student see if the event is a positive or negative one.