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| Thanks Penguin Random House for the copy. |
I am very
excited to participate in the blog tour of Dr.
Fell and the Playground of Doom by David Neilsen. It has been awhile since I have done a blog
tour, but the description of the book called to me. It said, “Read Me! You’ll Like Me!” Given the trouble I have had over the past
few months I’m glad I finally listened.
One day the
decrepit old house that all the kids played in was sold. In moved a very odd man named Dr. Fell. The small town children were not thrilled
because they considered the hosue theirs.
Jerry, his sister, Gail and Gail’s friend Nancy mentioned to Dr. Fell
why everyone was moping around. Next
thing you know the world’s best playground is built in the front yard.
Soon after there
is a huge increase in the number of injuries the kids are having. The weird thing is that everyone heals
quickly, so quickly that the trio of friends take notice. They set out to figure out what the spooky
doctor is up to.
I never like to
give much away about a story. It takes
the fun away from the reader. Anyhow I
loved this book. Right know it is on the
top of the list for my second read aloud of the year.
A couple of
weeks ago I had to attend a weeklong professional development on literacy. One of the sessions focused the importance of
vocabulary in students writing. I bring
this up because Mr. Neilsen’s created the best names for the characters. I can’t wait to use examples from the book to
demonstrate how word choice makes a story so much better. Here are just a few of the ones that really
stood out: Nancy Pinkblossom (pink and flowers are not what pop in to the brain
when thinking of Nancy.), PTA
Co-President Martha Doomburg, Leonid Hazardfall (he fell so badly they weren’t
sure he survived.), and finally the name of the school McKinley Grant Fillmore
Elementary School. Every time a new
character appeared their name set the tone for what was about to happen. Brilliant in my mind.
As a person that
looks for stories with strong and interesting male characters I really like
when he is combined with strong and interesting female characters. The balance of Jerry, Gail, and Nancy made
the story very engaging. Jerry was the
youngest but was very thoughtful in how to solve the problems in front of them. I have to admit from the get go I knew Nancy
considered Jerry her younger brother as well and that is why she was always
teasing him. It would be fun to ready
other adventures about the three of them.
Like I wrote
earlier I don’t like to give too much away, so I will sum up why I can’t wait
to share this fun, and creepy story with students. The vocabulary used makes it interesting, but
not too challenging. It makes the reader
think, but helps out on the really hard stuff.
Next the characters are ones you want to know more about. That is good story telling for sure. Everyone knows that too much of a good thing
comes with consequences. Hard fact but
that is reality. In Dr. Fell and the Playground of
Doom there is the worlds best playground, but the cost is something not
worth paying for.
Like I said I
can’t wait to read this aloud to my students.
Enjoy it.
We hope you’re
enjoying the blog tour for David Neilsen’s Dr. Fell and the Playground
of Doom! In case you missed yesterday’s post, head over to My Brain
on Books to check it out. The tour continues tomorrow on Loving
Dem Books.
