Journal: Stuart Goes to School

Stuart Goes to School by Sara Pennypacker and Martin Matje

I thought this book was good considering that it is meant to be a chapter book for young readers. I felt like children could identify with Stuart and his worries about school, and that they would find this story entertaining. Having read Clementine also by Pennypacker, I felt that this book did not have as much of the humor that I was expecting, but that the characters that she writes are similar. Both Stuart and Clementine are children who have a lot of ideas about things, and usually have a hard time fitting in at school. Stuart is different from Clementine in that he worries about everything and she is just a free spirit. The part of the story where Stuart introduces his magical cape was a little confusing, because I didn't understand the "magical" element of the story. The begining of the book makes it seem that the story is going to be a story that could possibly happen in real life. But then when Stuart starts crawling through magical holes in the wall, and forgetting to draw his teacher in the classroom and she dissappears is where I got a lost. I thought that the cape was more of a symbol of a good luck charm that gives Stuart the confidence to do things. My only concern with having my class read this book would be that they would get confused about the same things that I did and I would not be able to explain them. However, seeing that they are young children they may be able to use their imagination and look past that and enjoy the story!