Beverly Cleary Author Study: Janet's Thingamajigs

Original illustrations by DyAnne DiSalvo, though my copy

is a re-release with illustrations redone by Carol Thompson.

Janet loves how her mother calls stuff "thingamajigs" when she can't remember the word for them. Janet wants thingamajigs of her own, so she starts collecting small items she sees every day. 

Jimmy wants to play with Janet's thingamajigs, so Janet wraps them up in brown paper bags and keeps them on her bed to prevent him from messing with them. The bags rustle every time Janet moves on her bed, and her mother says she sounds like a mouse in a wastepaper basket.

This short story was funny to me because my kid also likes to collect anything and everything. I think it's a perfect example of how kids like what they like, and if you give them the space to get it out of their system, they'll come through it on their own and save a lot of disagreements!

Beverly Cleary Author Study: Lucky Chuck

 Illustrations by J. Winslow Higginbottom

Chuck has a job and a motorcycle license and bought a used bike. He knows the rules of the road and usually follows them, but sometimes he just wants to have fun while he rides.

I felt bad that I wanted him to learn a lesson, but I was initially projecting because motorcycle drivers around here are completely awful. However, he does learn a lesson the hard way, and I love Cleary even more for writing it that way! She did a lot of research into motorcycles and it comes through in how she explains the bike parts and the driving laws so it's a very interesting picture book.