Mercy Watson #2-#5 by Kate DiCamillo Mini-Reviews
The Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen, I've been reading these aloud to my son over the last weeks. Book 1 has its own review here.
#152 - Book 2 - Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride (2006), 73 pgs - Mercy loves going for a drive in the car but she always wants to sit in the driver's seat so every time it's always the same routine of pushing and coaxing her into the passenger side. Next door neighbour Baby Lincoln is looking for some adventure and decides to stow away in the back seat and so begins an ordinary drive that later involves the police and Mercy driving the car herself and Baby must come to the rescue. Hilarious follow-up to the original!! The scene where the policeman sees Mercy driving the car had my son in stitches he was laughing so much. A truly original story that kept me smiling and had my son on the edge of his seat with excitement and practically on the floor with laughter. 5/5
#153- Book 3. Mercy Watson Fights Crime (2006), 70 pgs - Mercy wakes up one night hearing noises, the screech of the toaster being moved and the clank of the toaster being pushed down. Someone must be making toast! So off she goes but instead she discovers a tiny little man, Leroy, who wants to be a cowboy but has become a thief instead. Mercy and Leroy end up having fun together in the middle of the night but the neighbours don't agree and the police and firemen are called out to the disturbance. Another cute story but this time we just didn't seem to feel the exuberance of the previous two books. No complaints, it just didn't have any laugh out loud moments for us. Perhaps because this one goes a little too far overboard by bringing a human being into Mercy's antics, just a thought, as we didn't find Leroy an enjoyable character at all. But still cute, just not up to par with Books 1 and 2. 3/5
#154 - Book 4 Mercy Watson Princess in Disguise (2007), 71 pgs - It's Halloween and Mercy is not impressed with being dressed up in clothes but when promised treats she complies. But of course, to Mercy, the word treat makes her think of buttered toast and when she's first offered treats she can't find any toast in the plate full of candies but she does smell butter. After making a complete mess searching out a Butter Barrel candy she plays a racing game with a cat who ends up in a tree and Mr. Watson declares it's time to bring in the fire department. And this time we learn which fireman goes with which name as they've always been referred to as "Ned and Lorenzo". This fourth installment was back to what we expected from Mercy. Lots of fun in a cute story. Mercy's facial expressions are adorable. Several new characters are added in this book and we can see we've collected quite a large cast already at this point when all characters set down to hot buttered toast at the end. 4/5
#155 - Book 5 Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig (2008), 73 pgs. - Mercy is in a lot of trouble this time when she ventures over to the Lincoln sister's yard and starts to eat the pansies that Eugenia has just planted. Well, Eugenia has finally had it and calls the Animal Control Officer to come collect this menace of pig. Another cute story that had a few really funny moments but didn't make it as one of our favourites. Though we really did enjoy Eugenia finally blowing her top big time. The other books seemed to lead us to thinking that one day she would just have had enough. Characters introduced in the last book return and the familiar faces are always a joy to see. Though their were a few really funny bits, mostly this story just didn't tickle our funny bone as much as other in the series have. A good chapter in Mercy's life, just not a great one. 3.5/5
These books were all borrowed from the library. Just one more book in the series to read and I have a review copy of Book #6, so that one will get a review page all of it's own.
#152 - Book 2 - Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride (2006), 73 pgs - Mercy loves going for a drive in the car but she always wants to sit in the driver's seat so every time it's always the same routine of pushing and coaxing her into the passenger side. Next door neighbour Baby Lincoln is looking for some adventure and decides to stow away in the back seat and so begins an ordinary drive that later involves the police and Mercy driving the car herself and Baby must come to the rescue. Hilarious follow-up to the original!! The scene where the policeman sees Mercy driving the car had my son in stitches he was laughing so much. A truly original story that kept me smiling and had my son on the edge of his seat with excitement and practically on the floor with laughter. 5/5#153- Book 3. Mercy Watson Fights Crime (2006), 70 pgs - Mercy wakes up one night hearing noises, the screech of the toaster being moved and the clank of the toaster being pushed down. Someone must be making toast! So off she goes but instead she discovers a tiny little man, Leroy, who wants to be a cowboy but has become a thief instead. Mercy and Leroy end up having fun together in the middle of the night but the neighbours don't agree and the police and firemen are called out to the disturbance. Another cute story but this time we just didn't seem to feel the exuberance of the previous two books. No complaints, it just didn't have any laugh out loud moments for us. Perhaps because this one goes a little too far overboard by bringing a human being into Mercy's antics, just a thought, as we didn't find Leroy an enjoyable character at all. But still cute, just not up to par with Books 1 and 2. 3/5#154 - Book 4 Mercy Watson Princess in Disguise (2007), 71 pgs - It's Halloween and Mercy is not impressed with being dressed up in clothes but when promised treats she complies. But of course, to Mercy, the word treat makes her think of buttered toast and when she's first offered treats she can't find any toast in the plate full of candies but she does smell butter. After making a complete mess searching out a Butter Barrel candy she plays a racing game with a cat who ends up in a tree and Mr. Watson declares it's time to bring in the fire department. And this time we learn which fireman goes with which name as they've always been referred to as "Ned and Lorenzo". This fourth installment was back to what we expected from Mercy. Lots of fun in a cute story. Mercy's facial expressions are adorable. Several new characters are added in this book and we can see we've collected quite a large cast already at this point when all characters set down to hot buttered toast at the end. 4/5#155 - Book 5 Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig (2008), 73 pgs. - Mercy is in a lot of trouble this time when she ventures over to the Lincoln sister's yard and starts to eat the pansies that Eugenia has just planted. Well, Eugenia has finally had it and calls the Animal Control Officer to come collect this menace of pig. Another cute story that had a few really funny moments but didn't make it as one of our favourites. Though we really did enjoy Eugenia finally blowing her top big time. The other books seemed to lead us to thinking that one day she would just have had enough. Characters introduced in the last book return and the familiar faces are always a joy to see. Though their were a few really funny bits, mostly this story just didn't tickle our funny bone as much as other in the series have. A good chapter in Mercy's life, just not a great one. 3.5/5These books were all borrowed from the library. Just one more book in the series to read and I have a review copy of Book #6, so that one will get a review page all of it's own.
My daughter and I love Kate DiCamillo! I think my daughter's a little old for these now, but I'll keep them in mind for my nephew.
ReplyDelete--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric
Well, my son is 9 but he's developmentally delayed, though another year and he'd be past these, I think. They are cute but not what I'd call babyish. Anywhere up to 7/8 I think would be optimum age, especially for kids who are reading themselves but still want colourful pictures.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know. Maybe they'll be okay for my daughter after all. She wants to read big chapter books but really misses the pictures. Thanks!
ReplyDelete--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric