Friend or Fiend? with the Pain and the Great One

May 1, 2009
Gr 1-3-The Pain and the Great One are back in another series of short vignettes. This time Jacob, aka the Pain, is embarrassed when he makes a mistake in front of the entire class, and Abigail, aka the Great One, deals with the betrayal of trust when her good friend Sasha steals her story. The brother and sister also contend with obnoxious cousins when they visit their curmudgeonly Uncle Phil and with mean Madison Purdy when they have a snow day. Like the previous volumes, this book concludes with a chapter from the family cat, Fluzzy. Stevenson's ink sketches are interspersed throughout the chapters and add detail to the stories. The situations are believable, and many readers will relate to the squabbles between the siblings and their school experiences. A nice addition, but not an essential purchase unless the series has a strong following."Beth Cuddy, Seward Elementary School, Auburn, NY"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2009
Grades 1-4 Many kids will befriend this delightful fourth chapter book about the slice-of-life experiences of a third-grade sister (the Great One) and her first-grade brother (the Pain).The siblings trade narration of chapters that describe recent excitement at home and at school, such as a birthday party with burned cupcakes or shopping with contentious cousins. Fluzzy the cat once again stretches his literary whiskers and contributes the last chapter. Blumes singular ability to portray the minutiae ofa childs everydaylife with humor is perfectly complemented by Stevensons occasional line drawings that extend the storys charm and fully shaped characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2009
In their fourth book, alternating narrators the Pain (little brother Jake) and the Great One (big sis Abigail) relate their trials and tribulations at school, while visiting relatives in New York, and planning their cat Fluzzy's birthday. Again, Fluzzy has the last word, revealing how he became part of the family. Stevenson's expressive pen-and-ink illustrations decorate most pages.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)