Chuck and Woodchuck

(Hardback)

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Description

From award-winning talent Cece Bell, a sweetly offbeat story about two shy first-graders and the woodchuck who helps them become friends.

When Carolines classmate Chuck brings Woodchuck to show-and-tell, Woodchuck is so funny that their teacher says he can come to school every day! Woodchuck is friendly to everyone, but hes especially sweet to Caroline. He gives her Chucks hat when her ears get cold and Chucks cupcake when she drops hers. But when Caroline forgets her lines during the class play, its not Woodchuck who comes to the rescue. A perfect read-aloud for facilitating friendships, this charming story recognizes that sometimes, making a connection takes time but is worth the wait.

Reviews

Bells warm and colorful graphic style, which uses ink and digital illustrations, embraces the many personalities of the class, as well as giving off the happy vibes of burgeoning affection. The bright and cheerful double-page spreads show the toothsome, fuzzy-tailed, lovable Woodchuck comically facilitating a flowering friendship.
Booklist

Its an odd little story, engagingly illustrated with clear, unfussy ink and digital pictures in a cheerful school setting that make the action easy to follow...This is probably the first woodchuck matchmaker in a picture book, and hes a feisty and endearing onewith good instincts, too; Chuck and Caroline seem made for each other.
The Horn Book

A first-grader named Caroline narrates this beguilingly offbeat story from Bell (I Yam a Donkey), drawn in the artist's characteristic childlike style...Chuck's cumulative acts of kindness draw attention from Woodchuck's flashiness to a deeper place, and Bell's creation respects the intense emotions of schoolroom crushes.
Publishers Weekly Online

Bells charming cartoon illustrations are humorous and have a retro feel to them...The story is told from Carolines point of view, and it is pitch-perfect. This will be a fun classroom read-aloud, since it goes through the whole school year. Children will be clamoring for their own woodchuck once they read this talewhere did Chuck find his
School Library Journal

The gently budding friendship (and perhaps a bit of romance) between Chuck and Caroline has a quiet appeal that is balanced nicely with Woodchucks amusing antics. Carolines casual narration is credibly primary-grade (Woodchuck started playing with some of our show-and-tell stuff! It was hilarious!), as is Chucks shyness...Pull this out to refresh a Groundhog Day story session or share it as a sweet-but-not-sticky friendship story.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Author Bio

Cece Bell is the author-illustrator of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover. She is also the creator of the Newbery Honorwinning graphic novel El Deafo and the Sock Monkey picture books, among other works for children. Cece Bell lives in Virginia.