Review: Hailey Twitch is Not a Snitch

Title:  Hailey Twitch is Not a Snitch

Author:  Lauren Barnholdt

Illustrator:  Suzanne Beaky

Review Copy Provided by:  Sourcebooks Jabberwocky



About the Book:
Meet Hailey Twitch...

She's just like you. Well, sort of.

She loves pink sparkly pencils and ice cream. But Hailey also has a secret: she's friends with Maybelle, a sprite that only she can see.

Hailey and Maybelle are having fun, fun, fun. But they're also getting into lots of trouble!

Can Hailey keep her friend a secret or will she have to tell?

My Review:   I had such fun reading this book!  When I taught kindergarten, I always read Junie B. Jones to them.  If I was still in the classroom, with Kinder or 1st or 2nd grade students, this would be my new chapter book series of choice, to introduce them to.  It is funny, realistic, and teaches a lesson.

Lauren Barnholdt does a great job of depicting Hailey as your typical 2nd grader.  I love that the story is told from Hailey's point of view, talking the way kids talk, thinking what kids think, and doing things that kids do.  I'm sure that young girls will fall in love with Hailey, her fairy friend, and this new series.  Yes, this is the first in a series and I'm anxiously awaiting the 2nd installment so I can see what happens to this precocious young girl.  Her actions are instigated by her new found fairy friend Maybelle, who has been trapped in Hailey's dollhouse for years.  Maybelle gets Hailey to do some things that are not always the best choice, because Maybelle wants to be known as "fun."  Doing what's fun, Hailey learns, is not always right.

The illustrations add to the fun of this book.  Suzanne Beaky does a great job of providing pictures to illustrate what is happening in the story.  Children need to learn to create pictures in their minds, but chapter books like this that put pictures in just the right places, ease children into that.   I enjoyed the short break in reading and the addition to the story that Suzanne's illustrations provided.

I actually read this book during the Read-A-Thon, but I saved the review for this week because I felt it was a perfect book to share during Children's Book Week.  Hailey Twitch is Not a Snitch was just released on May 1st.  I hope that you will check it out for yourself and/or someone you love!