Overview
A hysterically funny romp of a family story.Alice is an ordinary girl. Her brother is too clever at everything, and her baby sister is a toddling tornado. But neither of them have the power to charm Alice's new hamster, and neither of them can even pronounce its name (Aminal). Maybe Alice is special after all!
Synopsis
Alice’s older brother is clever at everything, and he taunts her mercilessly about her difficulty in pronouncing words. Her baby sister is a toddling tornado with a capacity for more ferocity than the worst hurricane. But neither of them has the power to charm Alice’s birthday guinea pig, and can’t even pronounce his name (Aminal — you try it!) Maybe Alice is special after all!
Children's Literature
"It wasn't a difficult word at all; it never tried to be anything it wasn't." Alice ponders about the word "triceratops." But there is a word for almost eight-year-old Alice that no matter how hard she tries she cannot pronounce it correctly, and that is "animal." Her older brother Oliver teases Alice saying she talks just like their three-year-old sister Rosie. Oliver constantly tries to get Alice to use the word "animal" so he can hear "aminal," while Alice tries to outwit him by thinking of other words for "animal." This proves even more difficult when Alice learns that her class topic for the semester is farm animals. In conjunction with this topic, her class visits a farm where Alice falls in love with a three-legged pig. Having this gimpy pig as a pet becomes her upcoming birthday wish. In the weeks leading up to her birthday, Alice begs her parents for the pig, trying to think of good things pigs provide besides sausage. Kennemore provides a great read aloud that younger children will enjoy, as well as a chapter book for beginning readers. Spoor's black and white illustrations humorously illustrate many events in the story and will be enjoyed by readers. Reviewer: Barbara Wheatley