My third-grader asked me to join a school book club with her, which I have dutifully read for every month. Unfortunately, aside from the single Judy Blume title (FRECKLEJUICE), I haven't enjoyed a single one of them.Louis Sachar is an award-winning children's writer (for HOLES), and the Marvin Redpost series (of which A FLYING BIRTHDAY CAKE is a part) has been very popular. However, neither my third-grader nor I particularly cared for the book.Mind you, it's a bit beneath her reading level at this point, but even if it did take her longer than 30 minutes to read this, I'd still probably have the same reaction: just because readers are children doesn't mean they need to be hammered over the head.The book seems to lose its train of thought at several places. It begins at a sleepover party, then a new boy arrives at school. We have the moral story of "it's good to not go along with the crowd when they're bullying that is so outrageous even my daughter said "Uh, is the teacher even there?" and then some allusion back to the beginning of the story.At times it's difficult to even tell who the main character is supposed to be, especially at the beginning, and the entire story seems awkwardly set up. It leaves me to wonder whether the market is so small for chapter books because so many of them seem designed just to get children to read words rather than actually make them want to know more about a story.
This is the sixth book in the Marvin Redpost series. The story introduces a strange new boy to the school, and when everyone else is being mean to him, Marvin finds the courage to be a champion and be his friend. Marvin wonders about Joe, and the story implies that Joe acts so strange that he could be an alien. The ending is quite interesting, too.I thought it was apt that Marvin's friends displayed odd behavior and quirks while they were picking on Joe for being different. It provides a good lesson without being overly preachy.We enjoyed reading this story together and will borrow more of the books in this series from our local library. I'm a little disappointed to note that we are coming to the end of the series. I wish there were more...
What do You think about Flying Birthday Cake? (1999)?
“Marvin Redpost A Flying Birthday Cake?” by Louis Sachar, was a good book about a boy named Marvin and his Friend Joe. Joe is a new kid at their school and everybody besides Marvin picks on him. They call him names and don't let him play the games they play during lunch. Marvin feels bad and invites him over for a sleepover. The two boys have a great time. At school Joe shows everybody how to play a game that he made up when he lived in Chicago. All the kids love the game and realizes what a good kid Joe really is.Marvin Redpost, is a third grader who is an average boy with red hair, he is very caring and is always making sure everybody is included and he doesn't want anyone to feel hurt. Joe is a little odd but very nice. He wears the same Mickey Mouse T-shirt and ball cap every day. His parents are always moving to different states and it is hard for Joe to make friends.The theme of the book was great! The theme was: some people may look odd and weird but if you give them a chance they can be quite cool and very nice. the characters were just like people you see every day which made the book much more powerful because all these kids probably do exist.I recommend this book for people who like very uplifting and powerful books! It is short and sweet!
—Cole Mathewson
