Stop Arguing!

Gr 2–3—These level 2-3 readers feature heavy-handed messages with unrealistic child-driven solutions. Arguing!, Trading, Snakes, and Race! focus heavily on character education, while Bats and Tree Fort feature overly simplistic environmental plots. Without developed introductions, the texts dive straight into each message. The problems at hand, though daunting in scope, receive tidy endings when the children quickly find an unlikely option to fix each dilemma. (When the forest faces demolition due to the construction of a new mall, the kids immediately locate an endangered bird to claim the land as a protected habitat.) Clunky, earnest reflections lack authenticity throughout. "Maybe Mom and Dad are right. Mornings aren't any fun when we're arguing. I need to think of a way to get along with my sister." The characters' actions seem coincidental or illogical in each forced context; though Jack appears nervous about the pet snake at school, he ventures into the classroom alone to touch it. Reading activities, sight words, and vocabulary ("brute," "gallant") maintain an uninspiring educational emphasis. Though some bright colors are used in the clear spreads, the wooden characters with their static expressions convey an unbelievable enthusiasm. Pass on these dry, didactic tales.—Meg Smith, Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville, NC