A Bad Case of Stripes

This is a very powerful story about a girl who loses her identity by caring too much about what others think to the point of her body physically transforming based on what other people tell her. It is an example of modern fantasy in that these changes would not be possible in real life, such as

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getting stripes, polka dots, or checkeboard print on your skin just from someone saying that. However, the story contains a girl that we can all relate to to some extent and so we do still understand the story and can be moved by its message.

Media: paint

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Cute story of learning to be yourself instead of trying to be like everyone else. Imaginative!

The whole book can be summed up as "How Camilla Cream learned to stop worrying and love lima beans (again)".

There's a girl who is entirely too preoccupied with what other people think, and she pays for it in a spectacular way, with "stripes" being a disease that makes your body change based on what

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people around you say.

It's kinda funny, too.

I do think, though, that it's a little old for my niece, even though she enjoys it. It's very wordy, and the moral may be a bit advanced for her. Read it before buying, see if it's right for your little one, or if maybe you should wait until they're nearer to the end of the 4-8 range.

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A Bad Case of the Stripes is a story about a young girl names Camilla Cream who is preparing for the first day of school, but as she looks in the mirror to checkout her outfit, she discovers something not to her liking. Her entire body is covered in multi-colored stripes. Her trip to school and

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visits from the doctors cause her skin to change in many different ways from the stars and stripes of the flag to fuzzy little virus balls. Her refusal to eat her favorite vegetable, lima beans, because others might make fun of her, could be the cause of her body’s unusual reactions.

I was in grade school the first time I read this book, and I still think it is fantastic. The surface of the story is imaginative and colorful, but the moral of the story shows children that giving up something they love so that others won’t tease them is not good. I really love how Camilla embraces her love of lima beans and accepts that she is unique, and I know that other children will identify with that.

A good classroom extension for this book would be to have a class activity where everyone would right down and illustrate and interesting or unusual quality about themselves. We would discuss everyone’s differences and talk about how our unusual qualities make us unique. Other idea to use with younger children is to have them illustrate and color their own version of the story. Each child could draw a scene in which Camilla’s skin changes.

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A Bad Cast of the Stripes by David Shannon (No David) is read by Sean Austin (from the Lord of the Rings movies) on the website. Sean Austin reads this story about Camilla Cream who loves lima beans but won't eat them because she is afraid of what her friends might think of her ( since her friends

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do not like lima beans). Sean Austin even uses a couple of props to make the story come alive as he reads.

This is an excellent website to share with a class. It gives a summary of the book, MANY activity suggestions that encourage deeper involvement with the story itself or the themes of the story. The video is not just watching someone reading. The clips are artfully edited between the actor(s) reading aloud and showing the illustrations form the book (zooming in and out and panning across the page to emphasize details). Other great features of storylineonlie.net is it easily offers a full screen option and it also offers a caption option so you can read along!!!

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This picture book is about a girl named Camilla Cream who loved lima beans but was so worried about what everyone thought about her she didn’t eat them and pretended not to like them. On the first day of school she can’t figure out what to wear because she is again concerned with what everyone

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will think about her. She ends up covered in stripes and is asked not to come back to school until her stripes go away because it is too much of a distraction. After she turns all types of shapes and colors an older lady helps her by giving her lima beans and teaching her that it doesn’t matter what people think and her stripes went away. This is a very humorous book with amazing illustrations. Kids love it. I like to use it at the beginning of the year to talk about why we sometimes do things because we are worried about what people will think.

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Genre: Fantasy
Age Appropriateness: Primary-Middle School
Review: This book is a good example of fantasy because the story includes humans with nonhuman characteristics. In the story, Camilla Cream loved lima beans but she never ate them because her friends hated them and she wanted to fit in. Since

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she denied the fact that she loved lima beans, she took on characteristics of her surroundings, such as being covered in stripes. To cure this ailment, she ate lima beans and pronounced that she liked them.
Media: This book is a good example of pen, crayon, charcoal, chalk and pastel media. A few of the illustrations possess pen by possessing a precise outline of the figure. The figures are more defined by the shading and have a softer feel from the blending of colors.

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Camille really loves lima beans but is embarassed to eat them for fear that everyone will laugh at her until she wakes up one morening with stripes. Coincidentally, she starts school the next morning and her mother does not want her to go for fear that she is contagious. The doctor that is sent to

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check up on Camille approves of her going to school. All the while Camille is just dying for a nice full plate of lima beans! Her problems continue to worsen. She even turns into her own bedroom with bed being her mouth. No one in town could help camille except on little old lady who recommends a plate of lima beans. Almost instantly Camille is healed from her strange illness.
This is a great book for teaching kids the importance of vegetables
For grades k-3
Can be used in teaching a lesson about fears

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What a great book!! I would use this book to allow children to see its ok to like things that other children might not like. This is a good book for 1st-2nd grade. The illustrations are great as well!

This story is about a little girl named Camilla Cream who experiences what it is like to get “A Bad Case of the Stripes.” Camilla’s stripe disease is a result of not being herself; which in this case is not following her desire to eat lima beans. Camilla just loves lima beans! This humorous

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story tracks Camilla’s illness from stripes to stars to a multitude of colors and patterns in which it seems no cream or doctor can fix.

I absolutely love this story. I read it several times in the short time I was able to borrow it form the library. The illustrations are amazing and each time I read the story I discovered something I had not noticed from my previous readings. I was worried that the book might be a bit old for my four year old but he just loved it, especially the pictures.

As a classroom extension idea, I read this in a review; I too would use this as a year opener to teach that it is important to be yourself. I would read the book and then do a round robin - introduce yourself to the class session. I would encourage the students to share what their “lima bean” is in their life. Another idea for a classroom extension would be to use this story in an author study. I know that David Shannon is the author of several much loved children’s books, such as, the David series, Duck on a Bike, and Alice the Fairy.

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This story is about a young girl who was colord stripes. Her colors changed throughout the book. This book would be good to read to any age of elementary students. It can show students that bad things can happen if they let someone else decide who they are.

This is a great book about a girl who is worried about what other people think about her. Because Camilla Cream won't eat lima beans because her friends don't like them; she turns into different images all over her skin. Once she eats lima beans again everything goes back to normal. This is a great

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book for vocabulary.

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David Shannon has once again struck gold with "A Bad Case of Stripes," adding to his canon of unlikely heroes who in the end learn a lesson about being themselves. A great read aloud for children struggling with the contradictory position of individual and group identity. It's also great for

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parents - unspoken participants in that struggle!

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A very cute, visual story with great pictures.

Silly story about a girl who wanted to fit in so badly that she ended up fitting EVERYWHERE.

Camilla was very concerned about what everyone thought of her. She wanted to fit in so she pretended she hated lima beans just like her friends but really she loved them. She was getting ready for her first day of school and couldn't decide what to wear because she wanted to impress. She all of the

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sudden came down with the case of the stripes. The doctors couldn't find a cure, in fact the cures were making them worse. Once Camilla learns how to be comfortable with who she is she is cured with lima beans.

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I loved the book, "A Bad Case of Stripes." I would read this book to students second through fifth grade. The book begins with a little girl trying to pick out a dress for school. The little girl was so nervous and wanted to look beautiful at school. She said that she wanted to do this so that she

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could impress her classmates. The little girl did all kinds of things to impress her classmates. She even stoped eating her favorite food because other students laughed at her and said that is was yuck! So the little girl got a bad case of stripes. She even began changing colors and grew a tale. I think this is a wonderful book to read on the first day of school. The moral of the story is to teach children to be there on person. If they love lima beans and someone else doesn't who cares! This also teaches children not to make fun of other students. They will see that it does not make you happy when you are made fun of.

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Great book about self-acceptance and individuality

All children worry about fitting in and don't like being laughed at, but just how much is a person willing to do or give up just to fit in? The story is colofully illustrated with lots outrageous "diseases" that happened to Camilla. It draws children to empathize with Camilla's fear and plight of

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being laughed at in every circumstance , yet at the same time they will enjoy laughing at all the ridiculous colors and shapes she morphs into. The author uses humor and clever wordplays to poke fun at people-pleasers and parents who fuss too much over their children. Great for discussion.

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I adore this book! I love the illustrations, the message, the plot, the characters...everything. Camilla Cream is very concerned with what people think of her, and even refuses to eat her very favorite food - lima beans - because she's afraid of what people will say. On the first day of school, she

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looks in the mirror and finds rainbow stripes covering her skin. When the kids see her, they shout out other patterns they'd like to see. Eventually, she's a horrific mess and the principal sends her home to be poked and prodded by various doctors and experts, though every "cure" just makes it worse. Finally, after a huge fuss, a sweet little old lady shows up with an unexpectedly obvious solution.

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Camilla Cream is an elementary schooler who loves lima beans. She also loves fitting in, so when her friends all say lima beans are gross, so does she. One morning she wakes up covered in stripes. As doctor after doctor fails to cure her, she finds her stripes transforming into anything she hears.

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Camilla thinks it's hopeless until an old woman arrives and teaches her a valuable lesson about being true to herself.
This is a great book, The illustrations are really fun and the story itself is wonderful. It engages with a typical topic, but does so in a very creative way. It's appropriate as a read-aloud for any age and an independent read for elementary schoolers.

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This book is about a girl who learns the hardway that she should just be herself. She begins changing colors and becomes a human chameleon changing to be what everyone else wants. Finally, she learns to just be Camilla Cream. This book is great for teaching kids to be proud of who they are.

A wonderful story about doing what you like regardless of what others think. This lesson illustrates this theme without being preachy. Camilla loves lima beans but she never eats them because she's afraid of what other people will think. Camilla is nervous about the first day of school and when she

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wakes up for the first day of school she has stripes. Each day she gets worse and no one can help her until she eats a plate of lima beans and changes back. She learns her lesson and after that does not care what other people think if she eats lima beans.

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This book was a wonderful depiction of fantasy, because the girl changes colors due to her lack of consumption of lima beans. She wants to be accepted by her peers, and she feels that not eating her favorite thing, lima beans, will help her be accepted at school. Rather than help her become

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accepted, this makes her stand out because she catches 'The Stripes' and changes into whatever other people call her. The cure? A nice heap of lima beans from an old lady, but Camilla must come to accept herself as she is first.

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