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Summary
Summary
Louise the Big Cheese is determined to make the grade in school this year and that means straight As. But she's stuck with the toughest teacher ever. Will Louise make the grade?
Author Notes
Elise Primavera is the author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Auntie Claus series and the popular Ms. Rapscott's Girls . She is also the author of the Louise the Big Cheese books and other award-winning titles. She lives in New Jersey, and you can visit her at ElisePrimavera.com.
Diane Goode has written seven and illustrated over sixty beloved and critically acclaimed picture books, including the New York Times bestsellers Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts. She illustrated several books by Cynthia Rylant including When I Was Young in the Mountains , a Caldecott Honor Book. She is also the illustrator of President Pennybaker and My Mom is Trying to Ruin My Life , both by Kate Feiffer. She lives in Watchung, New Jersey, with her husband, David, and their dog, Briggs. You can read about her at DianeGoode.com.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-In her latest adventure, Louise Cheese takes an academic turn as she begins second grade. Inspired by her older sister, Penelope, she decides that she can become a Big Cheese not by acting or wearing sparkly shoes but by being a straight-A student. "If she could get straight As, everybody would want to be her friend. She would probably even get to skip a grade-two grades-three grades! She would probably be promoted to college!" Alas, Louise's new teacher turns out to be a demanding taskmistress-and a stingy giver of As. When the no-nonsense woman is briefly replaced by a laissez-faire sub, Miss Sprinkles, Louise finally earns her coveted A-but so do all her classmates. Upon Mrs. Pearl's return, Louise receives her first report card and begins to appreciate the value of her teacher's Bs. With its snappy pace, numerous characters (including a talking dog), and narrative text alternating with dialogue balloons, this tale would work well as a dramatic read-aloud by an adult and/or several children. Watercolor and black-line illustrations energetically depict the irrepressible Louise and host of supporting characters; the scenes representing the child's imagination are especially funny. Comiclike endpapers depict female big-cheese and little-cheese smarty-pants, both real and fictitious, and underscore the importance of striving for one's personal best at any age.-Kathleen Finn, St. Francis Xavier School, Winooski, VT (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Not to be outdone by her older sister, Louise vows to get straight As in school: "If she could get straight As, everybody would want to be her friend.... She would probably be promoted to college!" But her new teacher, Mrs. Pearl, is not very accommodating ("You can do better, Miss Cheese," she says in response to Louise's efforts). When a substitute teacher, Mrs. Sprinkles, takes Mrs. Pearl's place, Louise is delighted-until she discovers that getting an A from Mrs. Sprinkles doesn't mean as much as getting a B+ from Mrs. Pearl. Louise's lovable imperfections are sweetly matched by her ambitions, as she learns how to live up to her potential. Ages 5-up. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
As the school year starts, Louise hopes for As from her new teacher. Mrs. Pearl, however, has high expectations: "You can do better, Miss Cheese." A substitute takes over for a day; she has no expectations and makes no demands, and Louise realizes she misses Mrs. Pearl. Pink-tastic watercolor illustrations humorously capture Louise's wild imagination and her energetic mood swings. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
That indomitable diva Louise is back, this time showing kids that hard work is its own reward.Louise's latest woe is the fact that her goal of getting straight A's is incompatible with her teacher's principlesMrs. Pearl never gives A's. But that doesn't stop Louise from trying...too hard, in fact. Her calling out and doing things without permission only earn negative attention from her new teacher. And her schoolwork? "You can do better, Miss Cheese." After imagining all sorts of tragedies befalling her tough teacher, Louise is pleased one morning to see a substitute. But Miss Sprinkles does not push Louise to do better, accepting mediocrity, and when Louise gets an A along with every other student, it is not the achievement she had envisioned. She actually misses Mrs. Pearl. Goode's watercolor illustrations perfectly capture Louise's sass and attitude, her hopefulness and her frustration. Readers will laugh aloud at the predicaments Louise imagines for the hapless Mrs. Pearl. And parents and teachers alike will cheer at Louise's resolve to do her best.If only everyone had Louise's work ethic, determination and spunk, and every teacher pushed students to do their best. A timely message for readers on both sides of the desk. (Picture book. 5-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
New York Review of Books Review
Wells ("Max and Ruby") begins a new series of books that deal with behavioral issues at school; here, the subject is personal space. The book opens with a dinner table conversation in which Lola tells her parents about disruptive Harry and her fellow apple-green alligator classmates. Filled with 21st-century classroom and parental jargon like "thinking chair," "friendly circle" and "'listen up' bell," the story is unabashedly didactic, but for grown-ups, be they frantic or merely concerned, it serves its purpose well MY NAME IS ELIZABETH! By Annika Dunklee. Illustrated by Matthew Forsythe. 24 pp. Kids Can Press. $14.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 7) Myriad iterations of Addison, Brianna and other multisyllabic doozies occupy the top-baby-name list, making it high time for a book that addresses the mispronounced and mistakenly abbreviated name. Elizabeth, adorably illustrated in agreeable orange and robin's egg blue, likes that there is a queen named after her. But she does not like being called Beth, Lizzy, Liz ("It's E-liz-ABETH") or Betsy ("Not. EVEN. CLOSE.") The book itself is close to perfect. A FEW BLOCKS Written and illustrated by Cybèle Young. 48 pp. Groundwood/House of Anansi. $18.95. (Picture book; ages 4 to 7) Beautifully illustrated with distinctive etched-paper collages, this is the rare story in which siblings offer mutual support rather than ripping each other to psychological bits. Ferdie doesn't want to go to school, so his big sister Viola coaxes him along. "Ferdie, look!" she says. "I found your superfast cape! Quick - put on your rocket-blaster boots and we'll take off!" Which is just what they do, in a gloriously imaginative meander that celebrates creative play and sibling cooperation in a way that feels very real. LOUISE THE BIG CHEESE AND THE BACK-TO-SCHOOL SMARTY-PANTS By Elise Primavera. Illustrated by Diane Goode. 40 pp. Paula Wiseman/ Simon & Schuster. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 5 and up) This third book about plucky Louise opens at the start of a new school year, with Louise aspiring to straight A's like her big sister Penelope. Unfortunately, she winds up with a strict teacher: Mrs. Pearl would certainly win Tiger Mom's praises with her predilection for high expectations and low grades. Appealing to perfectionists and slackers alike, "Louise" uses humor and bright illustration to teach an important but not always easy lesson about the value of achievement. DEAR BULLY Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories. Edited by Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones. 370 pp. HarperTeen/HarperCollins. $9.99. (Young adult; ages 13 and up) With contributions from popular Y.A. novelists like Alyson Noël, Lisa Yee and Melissa Walker, and from writers that teenagers will remember fondly as part of their earlier years (Jon Scieszka, Mo Willems, R. L. Stine), this anthology of personal essays provides empathetic and heartfelt stories from each corner of the schoolyard: the bullied, the bystander and the bully himself are all represented. Their words will be a welcome palliative or a wise pre-emptive defense against the trials of adolescent social dynamics. PAMELA PAUL ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
