Ivy and the Meanstalk by Dawn Lairamore - Review

Ivy and the Meanstalk. Lairamore, Dawn. Holiday House. 227p. 978-0823423927.

Courtney Says:

The book Ivy and the Meanstalk was a delightful new tale woven in with some old classics. Being a 14 year old girl, I rarely find myself picking up books in the children's section of Barnes & Nobles, but for this book it was different, I found the idea intriguing. The thing I liked most was the way the author, Dawn Lairamore, took a different outlook on the old tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. It was a whole new story but with references to a tale everyone knows and loves.

The thing I hate most in a book is when the beginning is slow and it takes forever to get into. But with this book that was not the case. It got into the main part of the story within the first 30 pages. And even better it practically never slowed down. From the beginning to the very end I found that it was always making me want to read the next page.

And let me just put this out there. The ending made me want her to write another book in the series so bad. I found myself asking my sister, Sydney, "There is going to be another book right? Because if there isn't I don't know what I'll do".

Although it was written for the 9-10 year old, I thought it was written just as well, if not better, then lots of the books I find myself reading these days. Personally though I think the rating is just right, because I don't imagine myself recommending this book to a kid my age, but would surely suggest this to my 7 year old sister or anyone around her age.

So in the end I enjoyed reading this book and the one before it, Ivy's Ever After, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone but most likely the younger kids, as in tweens.

Sydney's Says

The book Ivy and the Meanstalk was a great new twist on a classic tale that gets to its point fast. I have read many books, some crawl by and I have to force myself to continue to read them, but with this book though I did not need to.

This book may be written for 9 to 10 year olds but it was written very well or better than some novels I've read. It was intriguingly fast, with many twists and turns. It never slowed down, with some books they start really slow , but then get faster this book it was fast from the start.

This book was different from other fairytales because it was not a story about classic princesses and glass slippers, no this was a story about a rebellious princess, harp, and a golden egg-laying chicken. Some stories have cute little birdies, while this book had a talking goat.

I might not recommend this to nonreaders, but I might too a "super" reader. And I would definitely recommend it to a 3rd or 4th grader.

I enjoyed how this book was different from others, but I definitely think that this book would be a hit for a younger audience.

Thanks to Holiday House and Blue Slip Media for the books!
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