Not Ready for Prime Turkey Time: Thanksgiving Turkey Trouble by Abby Klein

"I have a problem.

A really, really big problem.

My class is doing a play for Thanksgiving, and I'm afraid I'll get the worst part!

Let me tell you about it."

It's an inconvenient truth that the star of many elementary Thanksgiving dramas is often the central symbol of the day--the turkey--a comically awkward critter at best who, as well as winding up being the main course of the feast, has a name which is also the slang synonym for "loser." When Freddy, the main character in Abby Klein's Thanksgiving Turkey Trouble (Ready, Freddy!), (Scholastic, 2008) learns from his know-it-all big sister that Mrs. Wushy has her first graders draw their roles for the performance from a hat, he immediately begins to obsess over the possibility that HE will have to be the turkey. "The turkey! NO WAY!" Freddy moans. His mom and dad make light of the odds and assure him that he'll do well even if he doesn't get to be an Indian brave, but Freddy still dreads the moment when he pulls that folded square out of the hat:

And there it was, in big letters. T-U-R-K-E-Y.

Of course, Max, the would-be class bully, takes this opportunity to compose a poem in Freddy's honor, which he gleefully recites to the giggles of the whole class:

"The turkey is a funny bird.
His head goes wobble, wobble, wobble,
And his only word is gobble, gobble, gobble."

But as always, with plenty of support from his family, excluding, as usual, his big sister Suzie, who comes up with several disaster scenarios for the reluctant thespian, and with a pep talk from his sympathetic principal, Mr. Prendergast, Freddy manages to pull off the performance with pizzazz, turning his turkey into a footlight triumph.

Author Abby Klein, an experienced Kindergarten and first-grade teacher, knows how to portray youngsters and write dialog which rings true in the school setting. Light-heartedly illustrated by John McKinley, this beginning chapter series continues to entice young readers, showing why Thanksgiving Turkey Trouble (Ready, Freddy!), is one of her long-running Ready, Freddy series, which now includes her latest for the Christmas season, The Perfect Present (Ready, Freddy!). Both of these books also include holiday games and crafts for young readers, as well her her trademark letters (FIN) hidden in each illustration.

Porker in Pink: Mercy Watson, Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo

Mercy Watson, the world's most pampered pig, is back for Halloween in her funniest adventure yet in the beginning chapter series by Newbery author Kate DiCamillo.

At first Mercy is underwhelmed by the too tight pink princess gown and the ear-pinching tiara that Mr. and Mrs. Watson procure for her, but when she finds out about the treats, visions of hot buttered toast dance in Mercy's head, and she slips into her frou-frou-ish frock in a flash and is off to trick-or-treat. "A porcine vision!" proclaims Mrs. Watson.

Of course, her first doorbell is that belonging to the spinster Lincoln sisters, supercilious Eugenia and her kinder, gentler sibling Baby.

"She looks just like a princess," gushes Baby.

"She looks just like a pig in a cheap dress," sneers Eugenia.

Baby sneaks Mercy into the kitchen for some Butter Barrel treats, where Mercy unfortunately encounters the Lincoln's cat General Washington, and the chase is on. With the Watsons in their holiday getups and the Lincoln sisters in full pursuit behind them, trick-or-treaters Stella and Frank think it's a Halloween parade and follow at full speed. It's a chain reaction rear-ender as all of them arrive just as General Washington gets himself stuck high in the top of a suitably spooky tree.

As usual, firemen Ned and Lorenzo and their long ladder are summoned to the rescue, which, as usual, gives Mrs. Watson a great idea. "We should have a party!" she exclaims joyfully. Fireman Ned urges little Stella and Frank to join the celebration. "You're in for a treat," he tells them. "The toast here is excellent."

Although her princess gown is still too tight, Mercy is content. "Bread was toasting; butter was melting.... It was worth it."

In Mercy Watson, Princess in Disguise Kate DiCamillo is in her finest comic form, and Chris Van Dusen's illustrations are the best yet.