Gooney Bird Greene

A wonderful and insightful book on storytelling. You will enjoy the interesting stories of Gooney Bird Greene and will 'suddenly' feel transported inside Mrs. Pidgeon's class. My son learned a lot about writing and telling a story from this book.

I had to read this for my Battle of the Books Team at work. A thoroughly horrible book. Lowry (Newbery award winner of The Giver) is so much better than this.

This was a fun book to read becuase Gooney is such an unusual character. A lot of the content reminds me of what I have been learning in my Literacy Methods class about things like activating students' prior knowledge, making connections, creating visual and other sensory images for the

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listener/reader, retelling, asking questions, drawing inferences, and identifying the most important ideas and themes from a written piece. There are some interesting choices of words and potential vocabulary embedded in the text.

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A most unusual new student who loves to be the center of attention entertains her teacher and fellow second graders by telling absolutely true stories about herself, including how she got her name.

Gooney Bird Greene is about a new girl in school who knows how to 'tell stories.' She's always dressed unique and has her own style about herself. She tells stories very well with props and almost as an adult voice that she portrays.

I guess this was an okay story, and maybe the unrealistic writing was the author's way of expressing how unusual Gooney Bird was. But to me it came off as more annoying/stupid then anything else. What kind of teacher always addresses her class by their grade? "Okay second-graders!" It sounds so

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strange! And the way Gooney Bird acts, how she says "I like to be absolutely the center of attention" all the time, and even talks down to the teacher! She basically runs the classroom, and it's just so unrealistic that it gets annoying.
However, I did like the basic plot. The idea of turning ordinary happenings, like giving driving directions, into a big awesome story just by knowing how to tell it a certain way (and still remain truthful), it's a pretty good storyline.

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The power of story telling is amazing! Gooney Bird Greene is new to Watertower Elementary school and she loves to be the center of attention. She tells the class 'absolutely true stories' and has them sitting on the edge of their seats wanting to know what is going to have next. The suspense is

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terrific. She is quite a character dressing to fit the stories she tells. One day she wears a tutu and another she wears her pajamas and cowboy boots.

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Cute story about a unique little girl who is a great story teller. The thing that I like about this book is it would be a great way to teach students about great stories and holding the reader's/listener's attention. This would be a great read aloud to share with students when discussing important

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elements of a story!

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Genre: Realistic Fiction
Level: Primary
This book is a good example of realistic fiction because this is a real setting in a classroom, with a classroom teacher, students and a brand new student. This little girl comes into the class and is quite the story teller. She has the class completely into

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all of her stories. This is a real type of setting but the scenario is not real.

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The stories Gooney Bird tells really keep your attention, and keep you wondering

I loved Lois Lowery as a child and so I was so excited to find a book that she had written that I hadn't read yet. I however, didn't personally care for the story although I do feel it has a lot of value in its ability to teach young children about story elements. However as a read aloud or a story

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to just read for enjoyment, I wasn't impressed. It lacked a climax or intriguing twist that you so often find in Lowery books.

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This book is wonderful! Gooney Bird Greene gives students a good example of how to tell stories. This is definitely a book that I would like to introduce to my students during a group reading time.

Humor filled representation of a second grade classroom, lovely portrayal of kids being kids plus the lead character being 'smack in the middle of everything'. Wonderful book to introduce students to the possibilities of story writing, makes the process seem very unthreatening.

I never thought so much could be taught in a chapter book for children. Lowry does a wonderful job teaching literary elements through telling a story about a girl telling stories. I really enjoyed how the students kept interrupting, a problem synonymous with second graders.

This truly was a charming early chapter book read. Gooney Bird Greene is quite a character. The moment she steps into her new second-grade classroom all eyes are on her. She commands attention wherever she goes. She's very self-confident, has her own quirky sense of style and speaks with a sense of

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authority. When she talks about herself and her life, at first much of what she says sounds fantastical. However, when the teacher allows her to elaborate and tell stories to the class, we soon learn that everything that Gooney Bird Greene says is "absolutely true."

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I enjoyed reading this book. This was the first time that i read this book and think that its a good book for young girls to read. The book is about Gooney Bird Greene who moved in now is going to a new school. She is an second grades and is full of stories. The kids fall in love with her and can't

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wait to listen to her stories during stories. She is the center of attention and class clown. After she doesn't have anymore stories to tell she tell the other children to come with their own.

Personal reaction
I enjoyed reading this book. I think that this is a good book for young girls that are in the secoond grade.
When reading the book I almost felt like I was actually in the classroom.

Extension ideas
1. Have the students going into a circle and have them share a story about themselves.
2. Have the students draw their own story and then tell everybody about it.

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Critique: This is a great realistic fiction early chapter book because it presents a storyline that is believable and relatable to children. Gooney is not a real person, but she is a very believable character that shares many stories to her classmates about her life. Readers are engaged to the

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storyline and can connect easily.
In this book, Gooney is a dynamic and round character. She experiences many changes throughout the book, and she is the main character. She is the character that the reader knows most about because of the elaborate stories she tells and through the many descriptions about her personality.

Media:

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This story inspired me to teach writing! I also would love to read this book to my class to get their creativity juices flowing. I loved the characters in the book. I had a visual of student's whom Gooney Bird reminded me of. Her stories about coming from China, directing an orchestra and the

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flying carpet were funny and very clever. I especially liked how she used the word "suddenly".

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Mrs. Pigeon just got a new student in her class, Gooney Bird Greene. This book takes the reader through a number of Gooney Bird's completely true stories, like how Cat Man was consumed by a cow or how Gooney Bird directed a symphony orchestra. This book is a light hearted and humorous read that's

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good for children of all ages. It's even been adapted into a play!

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★★★★★Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry

This is an adorable kid book about a little girl in 2nd grade. She's new to the school and loves to be the center of attention. This is great, because she's the new shiny object in class and everyone wants to get to know her. She tells fantastic

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stories, that have unbelievable titles, but they are always 100% absolutely freaking true.

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A delightful story of a quirky young girl and her fantastic stories all of which are "true." This would be a great book to read to young writers as a way to demonstrate that inspiration is all around you! You can't go wrong with Lois Lowry. It also has the benefit of being a story of a young person

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who is new to a school. Gooney Bird Greene may be eccentric but she is 100% herself. She sets a good example that being true to yourself and happy with who you are will serve you well no matter where you are. It's a wonderful story.

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This is a story about a new girl, Gooney Bird Greene, who enters Mrs. Pidgeon's 2nd grade class after the year has already begun. Gooney Bird Greene immediately captures the class' interest with her unique outfits and matter-of-fact way of speaking. During a lesson on storytelling the class chooses

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Gooney to tell a story. She begins to tell stories everyday that captivate the whole class, including Mrs. Pidgeon. The stories are really outlandish and seem to be fake, however, Gooey is telling the truth. She leaves out details to make her stories sound more interesting.

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This book does a great job of teaching the important parts of story to young children. It would be a great read-aloud to share when teaching students how to write their own stories.

This realistic fiction, early chapter book is about a feisty and friendly second grade girl who enters a new school in pajamas and cowgirl boots. She loves being the center of attention and telling her absolutely "true" stories that captivate the class. Her stories are actually true, but she tends

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to leave out details so they are more interesting.

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