Blueberry Bonanza

by Lauren L. Wohl

"A flavored tale with a built-in community-service message that may encourage youthful entrepreneurial efforts-or at least kindness to bears." ― KIRKUS REVIEWS Take on community challenges with the power of friendship in Blueberry Bonanza , a chapter book for young activists! Nicholas Preston, age 8, is a blueberry guy. Lately, that’s been a very good thing, because the blueberry bushes his parents planted in their yard have been delivering more fruit than a family of four can pick…or eat! This summer, the crop is their biggest yet, but Nico has a plan to get the whole town involved! If he can convince all his classmates to volunteer to pick the berries, he'll have plenty to sell to raise money for the Community Center and a park opening―but bear encounters, classmate trouble, and the town's crankiest resident make Nico's goals a little harder to reach. Find out how persistence, friendship, and maybe a little bit of magic help Nico turn his blues into blueberries in Blueberry Bonanza ! About the RACCOON RIVER KIDS ADVENTURES Series No matter what your size, substantial change starts with a bit of courage, a good idea, and a little help from your friends. The RACCOON RIVER kids introduce early readers to the impact kids can have in their own communities. Whether it’s uniting a town to save a building or just finding a home for a lost pup, the pint-sized pack always go big. The creative crew jump into action when they see a problem, inspiring young optimists to do likewise–or to just unwind with a light-hearted story. Praise Raccoon River Kids "With pluck and community spirit, the Raccoon River Kids get it done―another winner." ― KIRKUS REVIEWS "A great story for our fractured times...with its energetic writing and can-do attitude, this is sure to be a hit with readers.” – KIRKUS REVIEWS "The characters and the plot are empowering and inspirational for community-minded young entrepreneurs. VERDICT A worthwhile addition for public and school libraries." – BARBARA AUERBACH, NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS

72 pages, Hardcover

Published August 28, 2017

About the author

Lauren L. Wohl has been involved with children’s books… well … forever -- primarily on the marketing side of publishing. She's worked in large established publishing houses and also helped brand-new publishers get going. Lauren and her husband owned Rabbit Hill, a children's bookstore on Long Island, New York, where she was the Saturday morning storyteller. Lauren has an Masters degree in Library Science; has been a school librarian; taught in the New York University Publishing program and mentored students in the MFA program at Simmons College. She was program director for James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead and is now consulting with several publishers. She is an author of several picture books and a chapter books series, and she’s proud to be the local “kids book lady” in her neighborhoods.

Reviews

[Stephanie Bange]

Lauren Wohl weaves a story that is simple, yet very satisfying.

Nico loves blueberries, really loves them. When his family realizes they have too many blueberries for themselves, Nico devises a plan -- a Big Plan to sell blueberries in order to help pay for the town community center. In order to do this, he needs help from his classmates in pulling blueberries during summer. Also, he makes an unusual pact with the bear who lives in the woods: to save some blueberries for him as he has done in years past...if the bear eats none of their blueberries.

Nico runs into roadblocks with his plan, but figures a workaround for each, often with the help of his sister, his friend Hannah, or his parents. I especially appreciate the way she weaved Robert McCloskey's book Blueberries for Sal into the text. Black & white illustrations by Mark Tuchman add to the lightness of the story and help extend it.

Never cloying or saccharine, fans of Dory Fantasmagory and the Judy Moody/Stink series will enjoy this beginning chapter book.

[Christine Fran]

This book was selected to read to my Girl Scout troop as we worked on acquiring a Blueberry Badge. I read it to my two kids first and thought it had the makings of a great plot: a boy, a bear and a blueberry field. The boy was named Nicolas (Nico) and his parents planted blueberry bushes each time there was a life event. Pretty soon, the blueberry bushes reached maturity and we’re producing so many blueberries, the family just couldn’t keep up with the harvest. Nico encounters a bear in the woods near his farm who is scouting out the bountiful berries. Nico has a pact with the bear: if you don’t eat my blueberries, I will leave a giant bucketful just for you at the edge of the field. No one seems to see the bear except Nico and his BFF, Hannah. This is where things take a turn. The bear becomes part of the distant background as Nico comes up with an idea to enlist neighbors and classmates with the blueberry harvest. He then comes up with a plan to gather as many blueberries, package them and sell them, using the money to donate to the Community a center so they may have the funds to install a new playground floor. The bear is causing trouble in the community just because she is a bear. Nico’s teacher gets the time wrong and Nico panics that nobody wants to pitch in and help with the harvest. Too many disjointed events. I wish the story line with Nico’s deal with the bear was the focal point of the story. So did my children. I decided only to mention the amazing amount of blueberries produced by the bushes to my GA troop because the book wasn’t worth the time to read to them.

[Two BookWorms Blog]

I kept wondering as I read: Is this a book about Nico and a bear? Is this a book about Nico’s blueberry business? Is this book about Nico helping others? There is too much unrelated stuff going on.

For the full review: https://twobookwormsblog.wordpress.co...

[Jasmin]

Simple and full of blueberries. Good-feel read, revolving around family, friends, and community.

[Eileen Carter]

Blueberries are delicious no matter how you eat them. Nico really loves them. More than loves them, he can't get enough of them. Good thing for Nico that his family has blueberry bushes that produce lots and lots of berries. Each year the bushes seem to give more and more. Nico not only takes care of the blueberry bushes but he looks out for a bear... He and the bear make a pact.

When the school playground needs to be resurfaced Nico has a great idea. But will others go along with it and help him reach his goal? Only time will tell.