My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother

by Patricia Polacco

Other authorsPatricia Polacco (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 1994

Status

Available

Call number

E POL

Publication

Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (1994), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 32 pages

Description

After losing running, climbing, throwing, and burping competitions to her obnoxious older brother, a young girl makes a wish on a falling star.

Library's rating

Barcode

2073

Awards

Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Children's Picture — 1997)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Grades K-3 — 1997)
Flicker Tale Award (Nominee — Picture Books — 1996)

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member mcrook
A story of a brother and a sister - the sister is very frustrated because she thinks her brother can do everything better than she can. One night, she wishes on a star. Her wish is to do something better than her brother - anything. She finds out that sometimes wishes come true differently than you
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expect. She learns this at the end.
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LibraryThing member kikione
Patricia has a sibling rivalry going on with her big brother Richard. No matter what, he is better than her at everything they do. Then one day she finds something she can do better than him and when it all goes wrong Richard comes to her side.
LibraryThing member ecrobinson
Treesha is a so tired of being picked on by her brother, Richard, and not being able to do anything better than he can. He can spit further, burp louder, sit longer, throw further, climb higher, and get dirtier than Treesha, and to top it all off, he would always be four years older. After wishing
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on a shooting star that she could do one thing better than Richard, Treesha and her family went to the traveling carnival. Treesha staying on the meri-go-round longer than Richard did but when it was time to go she fell onto a bunch of pop bottles and had to be carried home by Richard and got stitches. Once she woke up Richard admitted that Treesha had done something special. From that moment on their relationship changed and was not about being competitive.
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LibraryThing member Lakapp
“My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother” written by Patricia Polacco is a wonderful children’s story. In this story, a young girl was very jealous of her older brother Richie. Not only was Richie older, but he did everything better than her and teased her about it. She never understood why her mom
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and grandparents like Richie because he was so mean. The young girl always wanted to beat her brother but she was never able to; one night she made a wish that she would be able to do something better than her brother. After many attempts, she was finally successful at the carnival, unfortunately she was injured in the process and had to get stitches. She rode the merry-go-round longer that Richie but fell off because she was so dizzy; although she was hurt she was proud she finally beat her brother and their relationship changed for the better. This book is suitable for Kindergarten to Fifth grade students.
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LibraryThing member vabrazzolotto
This book is really cute. It is about a young girl who feels that she is always overshadowed by her older brother. It seems that he always does everything better than her and he always makes sure she remembers that she is younger. She finally finds something that she can do better, but gets hurt in
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the process. At the end of the story she realizes he is not so bad after all.
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LibraryThing member kelasater
A little girl cannot stand that her older brother can do things longer and better than she can. He constantly reminds her that he is four years older than her and it will always be that way. Even when she thinks that she can trick him, she can't. One day, he ends up saving her after she falls off a
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carousel. She realizes that even though he gets on her nerves, she still loves him very much.
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LibraryThing member megross
This book is about a brother/sister relationship. The sister dislikes the brother and wishes she was better then him at at least one thing. She wishes on a falling star and gets her wish in an unusual way. At this point she realizes that her and her brother can stand each other.
LibraryThing member kdcoshatt
This book is about a little girl who is always getting picked on by her older brother. She is always trying to find something that she can out do him in. She never can find anything until one day when she falls off a carosel at the carnival. Her brother had to carry her all the way home. This
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changed their relationship and from that day on she never tried to out do him. She knew he cared for her.
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LibraryThing member caitlin.wester
My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother is about a girl named Trisha who can't seem to keep up with her older brother talents. He teases and taunts her about not being as good at something as him. This story shows the relationship between brothers and sisters and even siblings in ways that feature the
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good and bad in a sibling relationship.
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LibraryThing member Necampos
This is a story about a typical brother and sister who always argue. The older brother seems to always do everything better than the younger sister and so she gets very frusterated. After wishing on a star, she finally thought of something she might be able to do better than her brother: ride the
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merry-go-round the longest. The sister ended up hurting herself and her brother was right there to take her home and care for her. She learned that it wasn't about being better at something than the other, but more about loving eachother. The book had great pictures and i really enjoyed the storyline. I think this book can relate to a lot of children who have siblings!
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LibraryThing member aflanig1
Great story about love, family and brother/sister relationships
LibraryThing member rebecca401
Richie, four years older than Trisha, can do EVERYTHING better than her. There's nothing he cannot do! One day she wishes that she can do something--anything--better than him. She's surprised how that wish comes true and how it isn't so important after that to be better than him.
LibraryThing member VerrillC
This would be a great book to show voice, personal feelings, and how to write a good, descriptive personal narrative. It can also explain something the children can relate to. I love the ending, too. It was very touching.
LibraryThing member lam032
The little sister is always being one upped by her older brother. They are always challenging each other and she wants to do somethign that he cant. Finally she rides the merry go round longer than he does and she is satisfied, when she goes to get off, she falls and knocks herself unconscious.
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When she wakes up, her brother tells her how he had to carry her all the way home and she had to get stitches. He was very impressed, and she was satisfied!
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LibraryThing member MalissaLojszczyk
Trisha and her brother Richard are always fighting and trying to best each other. Richard always beats Tricia until the travelling fair comes to town. An accident at the fair shows Trisha that her brother loves her even though he always beats her in competitions.
LibraryThing member ReplayGuy
Polacco's books give a glimpse of her life and her Rotten Redheaded brother makes you want to scream sometimes. Tricia can never seem to get one over on him and the sibling rivalry is a classic. However it has a wonderful ending that shows how much family can mean to you.
LibraryThing member ktholt
This book talks about an older brother who teases his younger sister. Children would enjoy this book because they can relate to it. It's a great vocabulary book (vocabulary lessons).
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Patrica Polacco turns once again to her childhood (surprise, surprise) for inspiration in this engaging picture-book exploration of sibling rivalry, based on her relationship with her older brother Richard. Growing up on her maternal grandparents' Michigan farm, young Trisha longed to find
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something that she could do better than Richie - that intolerably smug older brother who bested her at everything, always with a smirk on his face, and always with a reminder that he was four years her elder, and always would be. Would Trisha ever beat her rotten redheaded older brother? And did she really want to...?

Although I wouldn't say that My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother is one of my favorites, of Polacco's many autobiographical picture-books, I think it offers a very realistic depiction of a younger sibling's frustration, at always being 'behind' their elder brothers and sisters. Children in that position will undoubtedly identify with Trisha, and will (possibly) be comforted by the happy ending, and the idea that (eventually) they will be friends with their elder sibling.
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LibraryThing member knold1
Review: This story is really easy to relate to, especially for children. Most children have other siblings that they don't always get along with.

Summary: The story starts with a girl talking about her family. She and her mother and brother all live on their grandmothers farm. She talks about how
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she doesn't like her older brother because he can always do everything better than her, like picking more blackberries than her, run the fastest, and spit the farthest. She challenges him to many things but he always wins. Her grandmother told her that if you wish on a falling star that it would come true. She wishes that she can do anything better than her brother. She finally did something better than he could, ride the marry-go-round longer than her brother. She fell and her brother had to take care of her. She realizes he wasn't that bad as she thought he was.

Argument: I think this story was really well written. I like the theme of the story and it is something that I definitely can relate to with my older sister. I also think hat many other children can relate it to their siblings.

The lesson of this story is that people may not always be as bad as they seem. The little girl in this book does not like how her brother always wins. She sets her goal to beat her brother at something. At the end her brother helps her when she was hurt and she realizes that he wanted to help her and protect her. She knows then that he isn't just there to ruin her life.
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LibraryThing member EmmaBrockwell
I loved the book My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco. I enjoyed reading this book because of the great brother and sister rivalry going on. They were always competitive but they still loved each other. When Patricia attempted to ride the merry go round longer then Richard she
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fell. He was the one who picked her up and carried her home. The rotten things they constantly did to each other didn't matter when one was hurt. Another reason I loved this book were the illustrations and inclusion of real photos. The illustrations were done using a lot of different mediums. Paint, pencil and marker were a few. I also loved how in every picture the goats, pigs and chickens are in the background mimicking the emotions of the main characters. I also loved its inclusion of real photos. The end pages of this book were actual family photos of the sister and brother. She even makes the nightstand photo on the second to last page a real one. I like how she used her photos in the book because it created a connection between the writer and reader. It was nice to see that the story was real and not just for entertainment. I feel the main idea of this story is family. It becomes evident throughout the story that even though they fight and compete, they are still family and will do anything for each other. This is a great story for siblings, since sibling rivalry exists in almost every home.
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LibraryThing member mooste2
I found that I enjoyed this book about a brother and sibling very much. The brother and sister in the book are never getting along until the end where the brother helps the sister because she fell. The brother constantly outdoes the sister in everything and it bothers the sister a lot. I liked the
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plot of the story because this is typical of a brother/sister relationship. However, at the end of the book it is clear that the brother and sister both care about each other even though they may get on each others nerves every now and then.
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LibraryThing member AMaffett
This is a great book for a read aloud to use to teach problem and solution.
LibraryThing member AyannaMagee
This is a story about a brother, Richard, and sister, Patricia, who are in constant competition. The younger sister Patricia is always trying to find ways that she can out do her brother in at least one thing. One day Patricia thinks that she has finally found that thing. They are picking rhubarb
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and Richard claims he does not like rhubarb. This is Patricia’s chance to finally be better at something than her brother. They begin having a rhubarb eating contest. Patricia has to stop eating the rhubarb and to her amazement Richard is still eating them! After Richard has beat her once again, he claims he does not like rhubarb, he loves them. That night Patricia sees a shooting star. She decides to make a wish. Her wish, of course, was to be able to outdo her brother in something, anything at all. So, the next day when they are at the carnival Richard and Patricia see a merry-go-round. Patricia challenges Richard to a competition of who can rid it the longest. As they go around and around and around, Patricia sees Richard starting to get off. Just then she thinks I have finally out done you in something and the next thing she knows she is at home laying down. When she passed out because she was so dizzy from riding the merry-go-round, Richard carried her all the way home. Patricia finally did something to outdo her brother but he still helped her when she needed it. From then on their relationship had changed forever.
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LibraryThing member Whisper1
Increasingly, I am rather fond of this author and her writing. Most of her stories are autobiographical. Her artistry is unique. While not beautifully imaged as some other children's illustrated artists, her talents grew on me and I find that I'm reading most of her books.

This one is the tale of
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her rotten brother. Always in competition, always trying to be the best, Richard has an in your face type of personality.

Grating and annoying, he always seems to come out ahead. Trying to beat him at someone, Patricia rides the carnival carousel again, again and again as it goes round, and round, and round and round.

When she departs from the carousel she falls. When she awakes at home learning that her "rotten" brother rescued her.

From then on, she looks at him in a totally different way. The experience transforms rotten Richard into kind, other directed family member.
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LibraryThing member torilynae
I really like this book. I liked the characters because I was able to relate to them. I have a little brother and he is just as rotten as the brother in the story. I think most siblings would be able to relate to these characters because the siblings are constantly competing and teasing each other
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but at the end of the day they still love each other. I also liked the pictures. They were fun and more realistic then some other picture books. They showed tremendous detailed and definitely helped the reader to imagine the story actually happening. The main idea of this book is that family is important and siblings will fight but they love each other.
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ISBN

0671727516 / 9780671727512
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