The traveling dustball

Format:

Book

Title:

The traveling dustball

Author:

Henderson, Judith author

ISBN:

9781771387897

Publication:

Toronto : Kids Can Press, [2019]

Physical Description:

51 pages : color illustrations ; 24 cm

Series title(s):

Big words small stories ;

Number in series:

General Note:

Short stories.

Contents:

Who's who -- The traveling dustball -- Spaghetti and meatballs -- The big wave -- Cloud tea -- The stinky cheese -- A small play on big words.

Summary:

"This second book in the Big Words Small Stories series follows the adventures of a boy named Davey and his dog, Abigail, as they travel the world on a floating dustball. Although Abigail finds travel IRKSOME and far prefers to stay at home LOLLYGAGGING, even she has admit that the dustball is an impressive PHENOMENON. As in the first book, the two are visited along the way by the Sprinkle Fairy, who owns a word factory in Sicily, "where the best words in the world come from," and her helpers, the Sprinklers, who have slipped one big word into each of the five small stories. The Sprinklers give readers a warning before each big word appears, and the pronunciation and definition after."-- Provided by publisher.

Subject(s):

Voyages and travels -- Juvenile fiction.

Vocabulary -- Juvenile fiction.

Readers (Elementary)

Readers (Primary)

Vocabulary -- Fiction.

Voyages and travels -- Fiction.

Genre:

Added Author:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	JP Henderson	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	E H (GREEN)	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

This collection of 5 stories follows Davey and his dog, Abigail, as they're swept away by a flying dustball. It takes them on adventures around the world, to places including Italy, China, and Switzerland. As with the first book, the mischievous Sprinkle Fairy has slipped a Big Word into each story - such fun ones as lollygagging, irksome, and phenomenon! This pitch-perfect book introduces emerging readers to new vocabulary in an entertaining way, full of deadpan and slapstick humour. It even features a 'Small Play on Big Words' at the end that uses all the Big Words Together.

Author Notes

Judith Henderson is an Emmy Award-winning children's TV composer and producer. She is the author of the Big Words Small Stories series. Judith lives in Montreal, Quebec.

T. L. McBeth is the illustrator of Stegothesaurus and the Big Words Small Stories series. His work has been displayed at the Society of Illustrators. He lives in New York City.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

Chores become fun via an enormous flying dustball and word nerdery. Bespectacled Davey is sweeping under the couch. When he enlists his dog's grudging help to dispose of a sizable dustball, a gust of wind takes the two up, up, and away on a grand adventure to Italy, Hawaii, China, and Switzerland. Along with sending the pair to a new location, each chapter also introduces a "big word," such as "irksome," "brouhaha," "lollygagging," "collywobbles," and "phenomenon." As in series opener The Missing Donut (2018), colorful beings called Sprinklers pop in to alert the reader before any "big word" is introduced ("Big word coming. BIG!"). Their leader, the Sprinkle Fairy, adds idiom-filled commentary. The repetitive formula, which smartly deviates in the final chapter to combine all the "big words" into a humorous skit, will indeed introduce readers who have some confidence already to new words. The quirky cartoon illustrations have ample white space, but readers unfamiliar with comics conventions may find the layout hard to follow without panels and speech bubbles. Additionally, the globe-trotting sequences rely on visual stereotypes to convey the locations (for example, the Swiss characters wear lederhosen and dirndls, and the Italians carry plates of spaghetti and meatballs; the depiction of an elderly Chinese man avoids facial stereotypes, however). Davey has brown skin and black hair; the Sprinkle Fairy presents white.A dustball of fun for fairly fluent readers. (Early reader. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.