Reviewed by Eleanor Emlen Healthy Roar reporters
Bernice Gets Carried Away
Written and illustrated by Hannah E. Harrison
This book is about a girl named Bernice who is in a bad mood at a birthday party. She feels left out while everyone else is getting special treatment. She gets the worst drink, the worst candy, and a plain white piece of cake with no flower.
When balloons are brought out for the kids, Bernice grabs the entire bunch. She doesn’t want to miss out an another fun thing. But the balloons carry her up into the air! She then learns an important lesson.
Several second-grade students in Ms. Lane’s class said they enjoyed the book. But one student said, “I don’t like the book because it made me sad when the children at the party weren’t sharing with Bernice.” Another student thought that Bernice didn’t follow the golden rule, which says to treat others the way you want to be treated.
The illustrations did a good job of showing how Bernice changes from the beginning to the end of the story.
This is a good book for a lot of different readers. Teachers could use it to teach students about being kind and that’s something that everyone needs, said students in Ms. Lane’s class.
This book might be too easy for students older than fourth grade. Ms. Lane’s second graders recommend Bernice for younger students.
