Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs , and: Roscoe Riley Rules #2: Never Swipe a Bully’s Bear (review)

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Reviewed by: Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs, and: Roscoe Riley Rules #2: Never Swipe a Bully’s Bear Jeanette Hulick Applegate, Katherine; Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs; illus. by Brian Biggs. HarperCollins, 2008; 80p Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-114882-8 $14.99 Paper ed. ISBN 978-0-06-114881-1 $3.99 R Gr. 2–3 Roscoe Riley Rules #2: Never Swipe a Bully’s Bear; illus. by Brian Biggs. HarperCollins, 2008; 80p Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-114884-2 $14.99 Paper ed. ISBN 978-0-06-114883-5 $3.99 R Gr. 2–3 First-grader Roscoe Riley spends a lot of time in time out (“Kids have to follow so many rules! Sometimes my brain forgets to remember them all”). In Roscoe’s first outing, he impulsively uses Super-Mega-Gonzo Glue to secure too-big bee bobbles to his classmates’ heads (and their bottoms to their chairs) in an effort to make the class’ musical bee performance go smoothly at the open house, for fear his beloved first-year teacher might lose her job otherwise. In Never Swipe a Bully’s Bear, Roscoe mistakenly thinks the class bully, Wyatt, has stolen his beloved stuffed pig, Hamilton. As payback, he swipes Wyatt’s stuffed teddy, only to later discover Hamilton (hu-miliatingly wearing a dress) being used as a football on the bus; Hamilton, it turns out, fell out of Roscoe’s backpack as Roscoe somersaulted home from school the day before. Applegate’s writing is strong and lively, and the short sentences, funny situations, and frequent appearance of pictures will make this series an easy sell to novice readers. Adult readers-aloud will also appreciate the understated humor of Roscoe’s narrative and nod in recognition at the goings-on. Bold monochromatic illustrations play up both the humor and difficulty of Roscoe’s various situations, with thick outlines and high contrast providing some robust ballast to the light text. Each book ends with a list of ten items (“Way Cool Things That Somebody Should Invent” and “Secrets about Me You Probably Don’t Know”) that might be useful for inspiring similar lists by readers or listeners. With more books apparently in the works, Roscoe’s first-grade future looks bright indeed. Copyright © 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois