26 Fairmount Avenue

Tomie introduces his family (including Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs) and recounts his adventures in the year 1938-1939, as his family builds a new house to move into. There is a hurricane, the first full-length animated movie in theaters (Sleeping Beauty - "Mr. Walt Disney didn't read the story right!"), and a rocky beginning to kindergarten. Gentle, old-fashioned, funny, and relatable. Young Tomie reminds me a bit of Ramona Quimby, with a touch of Fred Savage in The Princess Bride.

"When do we learn to read?" I asked.
"Oh, we don't learn to read in kindergarten. We learn to read next year, in first grade."
"Fine," I said. "I'll be back next year." And I walked right out fo the school and all the way home. (p. 35)

This is such a delightful story! I read it aloud to my youngest sister recently, and enjoyed it just as much this time as when I heard Mom read it aloud several years ago. This is the kind of book that is enjoyed by all ages. Tomie’s observations of his childhood are both funny, captivating, and, in general, a beautiful picture of a loving family working together for a common goal. There isn’t much in these stories that’s unusual, but somehow, Tomie manages to bring you into his young world and convey a sense of wholesome, sometimes whimsical musings interspersed with everyday life. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and my youngest sister did, too—we finished the story in record time! Highly recommended as a gift; this is a show more treasure to have on any (young or old!) child’s shelf. show less

Tomie is a young boy who's family is changing house. This book is a little window into the months preceding the move and all the big things that happen to him and the family.

I like this book because the vocabulary is controlled and the sentences are simple. It's written from the boy's point of view so kids may appreciate that. The events are an interesting time-capsule from the 1930s.

I enjoyed this. Opening with a hurricane. The house on the hill that keeps getting steeper. Kindergarten is a waste of time because you don't get to learn to read yet.

Yes, it's episodic, but that's only natural for memoirs, especially of early childhood.

The wonderful pictures make it short. And it's a delight. But still, I don't know if I want to read more in the series.

Read for Newbery Club in the group Children's Books.

I'm reading this series along with my 9-year-old son and we loved the first one! Such a charming look into Tomie's childhood. Tomie's writing is wonderful as always and offers today's children a view of childhood in another time.

It's a nice book. My children enjoyed it because they are familiar with DePaola's books, and their interest appeared largely because of their prior knowledge, and not because the book was particularly excellent. DePaola includes so many fascinating details, he relates child emotions and thoughts that children will relate to, I was surprised to find myself indifferent to the book.

This book is actually an autobiographical book about the childhood life of the author Tomie DePaola. The author recollects events that surrounded his new home being built on 26 Fairmount Avenue. He talks about a hurricane, his first day of school, his daily activities and spending time with his family.

I really enjoyed reading this book; the author did an exceptional job of detailing his childhood memories. I especially liked the way he describes in detail how he spends time with his family members, it was so encouraging. Another technique that he used, that was really nice, was his explaining in detail what a word meant, words that are not necessarily used on a day-to-day basis, this I think is a good way for helping the reader show more understand better, especially for a child reader. The illustrations were fabulous, they were very detailed and superbly drawn, and flowed so well, they gave the feeling of being right there in that moment of time. Since this book is part of a series put out by this author, I look forward to reading more of his writings.

For my class project, I would have my students get into groups and discuss the story among each other. I would have them write down what parts of the story they really liked and why and also list some examples of how they can relate to Tomie in their own lives. They could then share with the rest of the class what they had written, to compare thoughts with the other groups. A fun, hands-on project for this story would be to have the students stay in their groups, and each group construct one of the different scenes from the story using the craft supplies, by building or drawing the particular scene. I would write each scene on a small piece of paper and put them all in a box, and then going group by group, I would draw out which scene that that group would be responsible for constructing. This would be a great way of relating to the excellent, vivid scenes that were given in the story, and it gives each of the students an opportunity to give the scene their own special, creative touch. show less