Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Written by Judy Blume
Illustrated by Roy Doty
Reviewed by Morgan M (age 10)
Peter Hatcher lives in an old apartment building at 25 West 68th Street in New York. He has a 2-year-old brother named Farley Drexel Hatcher, but they call him Fudge. Peter's father used to work for a Juicy-O company, but after Mr. and Mrs. Yarby came over to Peter's house he got fired the next day. Peter's mom is a stay-at-home mom, because Fudge can get in to a lot of problems. Peter's best friend is Jimmy Fargo and not really his friend is Sheila Tubman. She lives in the same apartment as Peter. Peter won a turtle at Jimmy's birthday party. He named him Dribble. When the Yarbys came Fudge took Dribble and showed him to the Yarbys and Mrs. Yarby screamed very loud when she saw him. Fudge got to be in a commercial called Toddle- Bike company. All he has to do is ride around on a toddle bike and go where the man tells him to go, but Fudge wouldn't move. On Fudge's birthday they had to clean the house, because Fudge had some pretty weird friends. He has three friends, their names are Jenny, Ralph, and Sam. His friends are invited from one to two- thirty P.M. Peter wanted to go to Jimmy's house, but he had to supervise the games. The first one to come was Ralph. He is a big kid. When he came he went right to the kitchen to find something to eat. Then came Jenny. She had a white gloves, party shoes, a pocketbook and some dirty jeans. Her mom couldn"t get her in nicer clothes cause she knows how to bite. Last came Sam. He was crying and had a big present He was scared of parties. He grabbed his moms leg and said, "Take me Home!" It was a very long hour and a half. One day Peter had to watch Fudge at the park. Fudge thought he was a bird, so he went up the jungle gym, and jumped off it and knocked out his two front teeth. At the end of the book, Fudge takes Dribble and.... I don't want to tell you or it would give away the ending!
I think "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" is a very funny book. I think the funniest part is when Fudge finds the shoe box full of supplies for a poster that Peter, Jimmy and Sheila were making for school. Fudge took some of the magic marker and scribbled all over the poster. The next day Peter had to tell his friends that they had to make the poster all over again. Another time is when Dribble's bowl was full of hair. Fudge snipped off some of his hair. He had to go to the real barber the next day. I also like it when Peter, Fudge, and their father go to the movies. They went to the movie called "A Bear's Life". Fudge thought the bears were real so he went up to the front and tried to pet them. Peter didn't realize that Fudge was gone until he asked if he had any popcorn left. Then they found him in about 10 minutes or so. I also like the ending . You could say I like this book.
I recommend this book to kids who like to laugh a lot, because it is a very funny book. Some younger kids might want their brother or sister to read it to them. Since I told about this book go to your local library and get the book "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing." I hope you like this book!