Disclosure:Candlewick Press
gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review
are
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Do you have a young reader who is ready to read or listen to a chapter book, but need to find one that does not have content that is too above their age level? I know I love reading chapter books to Hazel but since she is sensitive it is very hard to find good books to read and there are only so many Rainbow Magic Fairy books I can read in a row. Candlewick Press provides a wonderful alternative (well actually a few but I will post about more another time). Today we are sharing Cody and the Fountain of Happiness by Tricia Springstubb and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler.
Cody and the Fountain of Happiness is about the summer vacation of a young girl, Cody, and her everyday life. She is a girl who likes to talk to and feed the ants. She loves her family even if her older brother is annoyed with her most of the time. She tries her best to be helpful, but sometimes it does not work out the way she plans. Her father is a trucker and is not around very much and her mother is up for a promotion to the head of the shoe department at the store where she works. The book addresses things like summer camp, friendship and high school crushes (her older brother is in high school). Cody does not like summer camp but her parents need and want her to go, but when the camp gets closed right before she is suppose to attend there is a scramble to figure out what to do with Cody. Cody meets a new friend, Spencer, when his grandmother's cat, Mewmew, runs away. Spencer is staying with his grandmother while his parents are on a couples' vacation. Spencer is dealing with feelings of being deserted. Cody and Spencer help each other have a fun summer and develop a special friendship. Cody wants to help her brother, Wyatt, with his love life, but she cannot understand why he likes a girl that seems so snobby until she gets hired to watch Cody while Wyatt is at his doctor camp. The various actions of Cody and Spencer are things any young children may come up with and things they may deal with and it is a perfect story of real life situations and fun.
Throughout this story there are fun things that happen to Cody and things that any kid could think of doing and not seeing the possible negative consequences. There are also illustrations in each chapter showing a bit about the characters and what is happening. For example her new friend and his grandmother are black. This is never addressed in the story itself, but it shows in the illustrations. The illustrations also help the younger readers adjust from picture books to chapter books. We really enjoyed reading Cody and the Fountain of Happiness and it will be sitting on Hazel's chapter book shelf for when she is ready to read it by herself. This is a wonderful book for readers who are ready for chapters but not ready to jump into the scarier story lines.
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