Lately second grader Freddy Dissel has that left-out kind of feeling. Life can be lonely when you're the middle kid in the family who feels like "the peanut butter part of a sandwich," squeezed between an older brother and little sister. But now for the first time it's Freddy's chance to show everyone how special he is and, most of all, prove it to himself!
One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo ANNOTATION Second-grader Freddy hates being the middle one in the family until he gets a part in the school play.
FROM THE PUBLISHER Lately second grader Freddy Dissel has that left-out kind of feeling. Life can be lonely when you're the middle kid in the family who feels like "the peanut butter part of a sandwich," squeezed between an older brother and little sister. But now for the first time it's Freddy's chance to show everyone how special he is and, most of all, prove it to himself!
FROM THE CRITICS Publishers Weekly Squeezed between a big brother and a kid sister, Freddy employs newfound histrionic abilities to escape being ``the peanut butter part of a sandwich.'' Ages 5-8. (July)
School Library Journal Gr 1-3-- First published in 1969 with turquoise and yellow pictures by Lois Axeman (Reilly & Lee, 1969; o.p.), this was substantially updated and revised in 1981 (Bradbury) and reillustrated in black and white by Amy Aitken. That same text has now been reillustrated by Trivas in bright watercolor washes and black crayon line. The multiracial cast of fifth- and sixth-graders still welcome the second-grader; Freddy still proudly sheds his resentment over being ranked as the ``one in the middle'' of his siblings; and the theme of being glad to be you is still validly presented. Trivas's lively renderings depict contemporary children and settings in an edition sized to match her reillustrated version of Blume's The Pain and the Great One (Bradbury, 1984). --Susan Hepler, Alexandria City Public Schools, VA
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