Skippyjon Jones, Class Action (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
In this sixth installment of the bestselling children's series Skippyjon Jones, our title character finds himself envying the pooches who ride the bus to go to school, determining to do so himself. Reminding him of his feline nature, his mother sends him to his room where he wastes no time in setting off on another imaginary journey in his closet, this time boarding the big yellow bus full of dogs bound for obedience school.Joining his faitful friends, Los Chimichangos, el Skippito is saddled with the task of facing the big 'bullito' who terrorizes the other pups at school. He also must fly under the radar of Mrs. Begalot, the poodle principal on the lookout for anything amiss at her school for canines. I recommend this book to elementary-age children and their parents/teachers, as it tells an entertaining story and simultaneously introduces some basic Spanish vocabulary (i.e., mochila, con, escuela, libro, queso, planeta, platano). But the embedded vocabulary is pretty meager. My favorite illustration by author-illustrator Schachner is on page 18, about halfway through the book, in which Skippyjon wows his doggie teachers with his advanced talent for art (adults will surely love the dog versions of classics like 'The Howl' and 'The Mona Fleasa'). Overall though, I wouldn't recommend this over any other book in the series. The conflict is a bit loose and the climax reveals the bully is nothing but an overhungry, miniaturized chihuahua. This is a bit anticlimatic, which seems to be typical of the series. Mommy's review from 12/14/11 - WHOA!!!! Listen to me and listen good. Get this on audio. I don't care who you are but no one will be able to read this like Schachner. She is no joke. I have never, in my life, listened to a narrator get so into reading and do it so well. John Lithgow reading Micawber is way, way good but Schachner is out of this world!I will not buy or borrow any edition of this unless a CD accompanies it. I could never ever do these books justice.Schachner should be commended for coming up with such an original character and such an original storyline. As much as I hate to admit this, I was biased against this book before I read it. Even more horrible is that I have no idea why I felt that way. The only reason I decided to read it was because it was on GR's Annual Poll and I wanted Julia to be able to vote having read all of the books. (As it happened this didn't come in until after the voting ended or I know without a doubt she'd have voted for this.)I'm ordering all of the Skippyjon books for us to read together. I just pray they're all on audio because I cannot read them like Schachner. This is good and I strongly suspect they're all just as good. If there is anything stopping you get around the obstacle right now. I can't believe I could have missed this book and this author. Thank God I found it where I did or I'd have passed it right by.
What do You think about Skippyjon Jones, Class Action (2011)?
Oh my goodness. This book is so silly, and so entertaining.
—avatar98
