The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis

American children grow up reading so many good British novels that sometimes it's hard to conjure up similar books of a Yankee nature. Maybe that's why I like Barbara O'Connor so much. Fantasy fans are forever searching for the next great American fantasy novel, but I for one am forever on a search......more

I just read this book aloud to my fourth grade class a second time (new class but the same age group) and it held up very well: still deserves all five stars! This time around, I added a new activity and picked up boxes of Yoo-Hoo at Dollar Tree. The children drank the Yoo-Hoo while I read the last......more

I don't know anyone who does a better job of leaving white space in a story than Barbara O'Connor. I study her books over and over to help me learn how to weave in backstory and to learn what to leave out. She says so much with spare, perfectly chosen words. I loved this story of Popeye's "small" adv......more

Seven reasons to love this book: 1. The short lived Spit and Swear Club 2. Yoo-hoo boats 3. Secret messages 4. A dog named BOO! 5. The chronological recitation of the Kings and Queens of England 6. The Holiday Rambler and a whole bunch of mud 7. Popeye, Elvis, Calvin, Prissy, Walter, Willis, Shorty, and Pr......more

Drip. Drip. Drip. Popeye opened his eye and looked up at the heart-shaped stain on the ceiling of his bedroom. Rusty water squeezed out of the hole in the peeling plaster and dropped onto the foot of his bed. Drip. Drip. Drip. It had been raining for a week. All day. Every day. Meet Popeye. He's a young boy t......more