From the one and only Kate DiCamillo comes an irresistible new hero for early chapter book readers, brightly captured with comic nostalgic flair by Chris Van Dusen.
To Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Mercy is not just a pig — she's a porcine wonder. And to the portly and good-natured Mercy, the Watson's are an excellent source of buttered toast, not to mention that buttery-toasty feeling she gets when she snuggles into bed with them. This is not, however, so good for the Watsons' bed. BOOM! CRACK! As the bed and its occupants slowly sink through the floor, Mercy escapes in a flash — "to alert the fire department," her owners assure themselves. But could Mercy possibly have another emergency in mind — like a sudden craving for their neighbors' sugar cookies? Welcome to the wry and endearing world of Mercy Watson — an ebullient new character for early chapter-book readers in a series that's destined to be a classic.
My thoughts:
I think as a chapter book for beginning readers this book is probably just right. There is a lot of repetition and enough that was funny to keep interest. The chapters were all relatively short so that it wasn't overwhelming. Unfortunately we checked this out of the library as an audio book. It was short to listen to (less than 20 minutes) but not all the interesting from an adult perspective. That said, I think this is one of the books that my four year old has followed the best and been the most excited about hearing in the car.
Mercy is a pig who is treated like a child. She has a room, lives in their house and gets sung to sleep. On the night that she tries sleeping in bed with the Watson's the floor starts to break. mercy's antics get the attention of the fire rescue men and everyone is saved. It held the interest of my children which is the biggest feature for me.
When I was browsing on the shelf at the library I was looking for books that were of interest for younger readers and that were not overwhelmingly long. We tend to get into book series and if feels like we are listening to them forever. Last school year and summer we went through the Chronicles of Narnia, the Spiderwick Chronicles and Harry Potter. While I am not against series and really enjoyed them, it is nice to break up the longer books and series with some shorter ones.
I recognized DiCamillo's name from The Tale of Despereaux and Because of Winn-Dixie.
Biography
Kate DiCamillo has a great talent for presenting some of life s most sensitive questions to young readers. Her characters struggle with tough issues -- abandonment, death in the family, making new friends, forgiveness -- but with a sense of humor and honesty that carries her audience beyond this struggle, and toward inspiration.
Product Details
Pub. Date: December 2009
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Format: Paperback , 80pp
Age Range: 6 to 8
Series: Mercy Watson Series
ISBN-13: 9780763645045
ISBN: 0763645044
Edition Description: Reprint
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