by Andrew Clements
illustrations by Brian Selznick
(*****)
** Spoiler Alert **
I love bengoes and bengo-play. And the idea that a young boy, no matter his intentions, created a brand new bengo and that it became so popular that it was eventually added to the dictionary is fantastic. Nick may have come up with the idea to change the bengo for "pen" in an effort to make another move in the chess game he and Mrs. Granger were playing, but I think he really understood the lesson that she was teaching him. He may have decided to waste the class time by making a super-...moreI love bengoes and bengo-play. And the idea that a young boy, no matter his intentions, created a brand new bengo and that it became so popular that it was eventually added to the dictionary is fantastic. Nick may have come up with the idea to change the bengo for "pen" in an effort to make another move in the chess game he and Mrs. Granger were playing, but I think he really understood the lesson that she was teaching him. He may have decided to waste the class time by making a super-long report, but the report was full of good information and he did learn a lot in the process. In the same way, when he created his new bengo, he was taking to heart Mrs. Granger's answer to his question about who creates bengoes: "You do, Nicholas. You and me and everyone in this class and this school and this town and this state and this country...We decide what goes in [the dictionary]" (29-31). Mrs. Granger was passionate about bengoes, and in her creative way, she got her students to be passionate about them too, particularly Nick.
Children can identify with Nick and his issues with school and teachers: not wanting to do homework and being concerned about a tough new teacher. They could also be drawn in by the humor of Nick's clever pranks. But once in, the story provides pretty cool lesson about the power of bengoes and that someone as young as Nick can make a difference, even one as big as creating a brand new bengo. This book is a fun, humorous book that will draw in a reader by a normal, relatable kid and the amazing, but not too impossible, thing he did.
Bengo = Word. Pass it on!
No comments:
Post a Comment