The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein

David Bernstein was eight years, five months, and seventeen days old when he decided to change his name… to Ali Baba.
You see, it all started when David was assigned to do a book report in class and the teacher gave extra credit for fat books. David decided he wanted to read the longest book out

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of anyone in his school, so he started reading the phone book. And he discovered that NOT ONLY were there three other Davids in his class, there were 17 David Bernsteins in his city!

David was sick of being just another David. Being just another David was boring. He figured that he’d have more adventures as Ali Baba… and between finding lost jewels, outsmarting kidnappers, and arranging a party for all the other David Bernsteins in New York City, Ali Baba was right!

This is a solid transitional chapter book and I'd recommend it to 2nd-3rd graders (or younger kids who are reading up). Johanna Hurwitz was one of my favorite authors when I was a kid and I'm glad to say that this book stands the test of time pretty well. There are occasional mentions of technology, but nothing more specific than "computer" or "word processor", so nothing that dates it too badly.

Readalikes: Others of Johanna Hurwitz's books, of course, for their solid contemporary stories and funny situations.

Roscoe Riley Rules series by Applegate, which is written on a similar level and also features humorous stories about an elementary school boy.

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