Sunny Holiday is the actual name of the main character of this book. Her father says she is like a dandelion--adding cheer everywhere and growing strong and beautiful. She is, even though not everything goes well for Sunny, she is cheerful and resilient. Sunny's poor, her father is in jail, her mother works very hard and is often gone, and the girls in her class tease her. Yet Sunny talks mostly about the things that go right for her--the great people who live in her apartment building, her kind teacher, her academic success, and the great dance parties her mom runs. Sunny is a great example of someone who knows how to make things better by changing what she can. Kids in grades 2 and up will like this one. Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.comSunny Holiday is a spunky little fourth grader. She may live on the "wrong side of the tracks" and get teased by the "bus girls," but she always looks at the bright side of everything. Her mother may work endless hours cleaning rooms at the hotel across the river, but Sunny keeps her chin up and carries on. Her father may have made a mistake that landed him in prison for the better part of another year, but Sunny puts a smile on her face and is thankful for the things in life that are free. Sunny and her friend, Jazzy, do just about everything together. They both have cats, and they love to create new games to play and projects to accomplish. Sunny's latest scheme is to create a holiday for every month. She explains to Jazzy that six of the twelve months have pretty cool holidays, but the other six are seriously lacking. January is her first goal. She's thinking something to celebrate on about the twentieth of the month would certainly help break things up until Valentine's Day arrives in February. This is a fun book for the elementary crowd. They will easily relate to Sunny's desire to have a kid-friendly holiday in every month, and her disappointment that the mayor's promise of a new park in her neighborhood turned into a half-dozen scraggly trees instead. The underlying theme of the need to pass the state's standarized test is an element of the story that might make it a worthwhile read-aloud for a fourth grade classroom. This one is a bit young for my students so I'm planning to pass it along to the fourth grade teachers in our elementary building. I'm sure Sunny will make another appearance someday if author Coleen Murtagh Paratore has anything to say about it.
What do You think about Sunny Holiday (2009)?
This was really good and now i cannot wait to read the next one!!!
—Shivani
Loved this book. It's so cute and funny! Very well written.
—Jascapri
