The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis

After I put my son to bed, I jump on the computer and check my email and catch up on the blogs I follow. One of those blogs is Barbara O'Connor's Greetings From Nowhere. Barbara is witty, funny, clever, quirky and oh-so-human (see her Cafe Francais saga), so it is no wonder she can breathe life into witty, funny, clever, quirky and oh-so-human characters.In "Small Adventure", Velma recites the kings and queens of England in chronological order. As someone who just crossed the 40-year mark and is a new mom, as I read this part of the book I was thinking this is a great way to keep one's mind sharp. Then I read Popeye's reaction. And it's perfect. And not terribly complimentary. Not only can Barbara O'Connor create characters so real that you think you know them, she can draw you so entirely into a book that you forget it is just a story.By the time I hit the Yoo-hoo boats, there was no retreating. No way I was putting this book down until I met everyone and I found out how this story ended. So go out and buy this book. It's a short story and a fast read and not a single word is wasted. And you'll enjoy re-visiting it for years to come.

forgrt trying to get kids to read this book. it works far better as a bedtine story for kids aged 8-12. Animating the voices of Popeye abd Elvis really made the story come to life. 3-4 chapters a night and the kids are asleep!

Popeye lives in a small town with his grandmother and no-good-do-nothing uncle. Life is boring. Nothing happens. He longs for something to happen. One day, after a week of rain a trailer gets stuck in the mud. Living in the trailer is Elvis, his parents and a bunch of siblings. Elvis and Popeye become friends and find a boat made out of a Yoohoo carton floating on the creek. They decide they need to find out who made the boat and sent it down the creek. And so the adventure begins. Can they figure out the mystery before the trailer is dug out of the mud? This is a quick read and a sweet story. Elementary aged boys will especially like it.

I started my year off reading this wonderful story aloud to my fourth grade class. For any 4th grade teacher out there looking for a great book, this is it! The characters of Popeye, Elvis, Velma, and Starletta delighted my students. They are wonderfully written and students everywhere can identify with their desires to have an adventure. AS a teacher I loved how Connor introduces all those great vocabulary words. When we read about the wrath of Velma, hands shot up wanting to share their experiences with wrath: " My dad shows wrath when the Yankees beat the Red Sox!" My class had a great time brainstorming ideas for a sequel. I highly recommend this book.

Loved this book. Repurchased more for classroom read aloud. Students loved Velma’s word of the day and reading about adventures.

This book is a great classroom novel. Students enjoy reading about the adventure, and the guided vocabulary help students with difficult words found within the text.

This was a short book that came to - I felt - a very abrupt halt. I wanted to know more about the characters. And characters are to be found in this book! Funny, quirky, smart kids and a few clueless adults. I enjoyed it - it's a quick read, well-written, and I'd recommend it to anyone!

Book is okay. Had it overnighted bc my son needed it for school and the package was torn and book was torn but that's not the seller's fault. At that point we just needed it.

My students enjoyed the characters and the story. One student went out and bought her own copy - and she is resistant to reading!