Lulu's Mysterious Mission Is a Wonderful Early Chapter Book

I am so excited today ... and I mean really excited!!  A new Lulu book is a big deal in our house.  I wish I could pretend that it is only my daughter who drives all the enthusiasm behind this series but that would be an outright lie.  Even I got a flutter of excitement as I opened the Amazon box and we both shouted "Lulu!" in unison.

If I were being held hostage by a group of rogue librarians and they made me pick only one early chapter book to read to a group of sugar crazed 2nd graders, with no other choices in sight ... I would pick Lulu ... hands down.

Don't forget to Like One Great Book on Facebook or Twitter for all the books that will get you out of a hostage situation, or perhaps I should say, will delight even the rowdiest of second graders.  Yes, I promise.

Title:       Lulu’s Mysterious Mission

Author:   Judith Viorst

Target:    Grades 1-4

Series:     Yes

What this book is about:  
In Lulu’s latest adventure, her parents decide to take a trip on their own (gasp!) and Lulu must stay with a babysitter.  However, this babysitter is most definitely NOT Mary Poppins and Lulu is NOT pleased.  After concocting several schemes to eliminate the sitter from her home, Lulu finally comes to a truce with her when her babysitter reveals an astonishing secret.  Now Lulu is begging her to stay!

Why I love this book:
First, I LOVE the Lulu books.  Judith Viorst has a wonderful way of including kids in the story and making them feel apart of the action.  Between addressing the reader directly and creating repetitive and clever rhymes, kids are caught right up in the adventure.  

Before she even starts the book, Viorst confesses that the title may be misleading. 
She didn’t think kids would pick up a book titled “Lulu’s Babysitter.”  She then feels slightly bad about tricking the reader and tells them she might … just might put something in about a mysterious mission. This is good stuff and readers will just eat it up.

Now the illustrator for this book is different from the first two.  Originally the pictures were done by Lane Smith and they are brilliant.  In an early chapter book the pictures work very much in harmony with the text and Smith paints an absolutely charming and perfect depiction of Lulu.  The new artist Kevin Cornell worried me a bit.  Now he has a lot a great book credits to his name, so he isn’t too shabby a choice to replace Smith, but his pictures are much more realistic, as opposed to the stylized art of Smith.  While at first glance I thought I would be disappointed, as my daughter and I read the story, the illustrations grew on me, and by the end I was a much bigger fan.

Who this book is for: 
Please don’t let the fact the main character is a girl dissuade you from picking this book up for a boy.  It is a wonderful gender neutral story, and Lulu’s escapades will bring delight to all kids.  I read this book aloud to my daughter and it is wonderful delivered that way.  If your child is an independent reader, the pages have large type and pictures are on most pages.  Probably the most intimidating thing about the book is the length at 182 pages.

Final thoughts:
I loved the first Lulu book, I was charmed by the second Lulu book but this third Lulu book was a home run!  My daughter and I are unwavering fans!

To purchase this book:
Click on the following link to connect to Amazon: Lulu's Mysterious Mission  A portion of each purchase goes back to support this blog at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.