Review: Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo, Alison McGhee and Tony Fucile

Bink and Gollie was a summer reading suggestion from the reader's choice committee I'm on (read about it here).  And if I can be honest, most of the books I've had to read have been BORING!  Bink and Gollie, thank goodness, was not!  I'm so glad I read it!

Here is the summary from Goodreads:
Meet Bink and Gollie, two precocious little girls — one tiny, one tall, and both utterly irrepressible. Setting out from their super-deluxe tree house and powered by plenty of peanut butter (for Bink) and pancakes (for Gollie), they share three comical adventures involving painfully bright socks, an impromptu trek to the Andes, and a most unlikely marvelous companion. No matter where their roller skates take them, at the end of the day they will always be the very best of friends. Full of quick-witted repartee, this brainchild of Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo and award-winning author Alison McGhee is a hilarious ode to exuberance and camaraderie, imagination and adventure, brought to life through the delightfully kinetic images of Tony Fucile.

I thought that Bink and Gollie was a very cute easy reader. The chapters are shorter, similar to the Frog and Toad series of books by Arnold Lobel.  Like Frog and Toad, Bink and Gollie are a pair of friends, one a little more serious and the other a little more relaxed.

The illustrations are also colored sparsely, much like F&T, drawing the eye to where there is color (and action).

The reading level of Bink and Gollie is about a guided reading level K (which is late 1st/early second).  I couldn't find the definitive answer on scholastic book wizard, so I had to guestimate.  Now, that doesn't mean that if your child is in third grade they can't read this book, cause its cute so they should, the reading level is just an approximation to say "hmmm maybe this isn't for sixth graders"....

I am definitely taking my copy to my classroom, and I'm pretty sure that not only will kids be fighting over it, but I'll probably have to buy a second copy.

Listen to an except of The Magician's Elephant

You can listen to an excerpt of The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo here.

Kate DiCamillo, for me, is hit or miss.  I love love loved The Tale of Despereaux, but hated The Miraculous Journey of Edward Toulane.  The Tiger Rising was "eh", but I find her Mercy Watson series hysterical. This is this first time I have ever been so divided about an author.  Either I love their work, or I hate it.  There is no in between.   

I'm going to withhold a review of this book, mainly because I hate having stuff read to me.  I'll get it from the library one Friday afternoon and read it over the weekend.