The Crazy Friend

Ginger Green, Play Date Queen #2

by Kim Kane, Jon Davis (Illustrator)

Ginger likes to play with Maisy, but when Maisy's bad behavior makes a fun playdate turn bad, what can Ginger do to fix things?

Genres: Childrens, Animals

63 pages, Library Binding

Published August 1, 2017

About the author

Kim Kane was born in London in a bed bequeathed by Wordsworth to . . . ‘a writer, a painter or a poet.’ Despite this auspicious beginning, she went on to practise law.

Kim's picture book Family Forest was shortlisted for the 2011 Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Awards. The Vegetable Ark was a 2011 CBCA Notable Book in two categories. Kim's first novel, Pip: the story of Olive, won the 2008 Barbara Ramsden Award and was shortlisted for the 2009 Australian Book Industry Awards and the Speech Pathology Australian awards.

Kim lives with her family in Melbourne. She writes whenever and wherever she can.

Reviews

[Wendi Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ginger's play date is going very, very badly. Maisie, who is fun and loud at school, is out of control the second she rings Ginger's doorbell. This is a beginner elementary chapter book, with lots of vivid illustrations of Maisie behaving badly. She takes off all her clothes (Ginger's little sister is also unclothed, but she's littler and doesn't know better), eats all the snacks, and then cavorts on the rooftop. Ginger is horrified. What do you do when you'd rather read than be involved in your very own play date?

I thought this was cute, with lots of examples of what not to do on a play date. I especially loved the illustrations of Ginger's mom, as she tries to keep up with Maisie and put a lid on the wild behavior. I can see this book as being a big hit with my daughter when she's older.

*Thank you to Capstone and Netgalley for an ARC*

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ginger Green, playdate queen invites her friend Maisy to her house....but Maisy is a little bit crazy. Her increasingly bad behaviour is making Ginger wish she'd never heard of playdates. How can she calm her incorrigible friend down and save her title of playdate queen?

As always with childrens book reviews from me I am merely the conduit to my 6 year old daughter's views. But we were firmly of the same opinion on this book - it's just great. Funny and silly and yet a wee bit wise and insightful it made us giggle throughout the reading and recognise ourselves in the telling (I am the mom in this book!). I have one major issue.... apparently I have to go and buy the other four parts of this series. So great for us to read....not so great for the old bank balance!

I received this from Netgalley for an unbiased review.

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ginger Green is seven years old and Queen of playdates. She calls up her friend from school Maisy and arranges a get together. Maisy enthusiastically accepts... Maisy screams, "YES!" as her acceptance speech and maybe that too loud response should have been a clue as to what is to come.

At precisely 2:00 the next day the door bell rings, and rings, and rings ad nauseam. Ginger's mother answers the door and shouts HI over Maisy's extra loud and exited HI!!!!!... while yes, the door bell is still ringing. Maisy throws off her boots when she enters. They hit the wall with a bang and she tears off down the stairs, not with Ginger, but with Ginger's younger sister Penny, who by the way, is stark naked. Mother yells in her angry voice, "No running in the house," but to no avail, the girls are gone. The playdate goes down hill from there if you can believe it as Maisy gets more and more out of control. She goes missing and ends up on the garage roof dangling Mother's car keys over the side. She's pushing buttons on the key chain that make the garage door go up and down like it's waving hello to the whole neighbourhood. She's acting very irresponsibly and putting herself in danger. Oh my!

Can Ginger and her Mother get things under control and finally settle things down to have a sane playdate with her crazy friend Maisey?

The Ginger Green Series will certainly be a hit. "The Crazy Friend" will have kids laughing and relating, as Ginger and her family try to find a solution to calm down a very dramatic and chaotic time. The fun, expressive and action-packed illustrations add greatly to the success of the story.

The series deals with social dilemmas and will be a perfect catalyst to trigger discussions about making good friends, displaying proper behaviour on playdates (whether in your own home or if you are invited to another home). There are two more books to come and I can't wait to read them. I highly, highly recommend this heartwarming chapter book.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an early chapter book made up of three chapters with just a few sentences per page. Perfect for those young readers. Ginger Green, Play Date Queen (this is a series) invites her friend Maisy over to play. Unfortunately for Ginger, nothing goes as expected. There is nonstop action from Maisy's arrival and the ringing repeatedly of the doorbell to climbing the roof. She spends more time playing with Ginger's sibling than her. Maisy is quite the crazy friend. This is a fun read that kids will love and want to read over again. Parents will enjoy this as a read aloud with their younger children remembering their own crazy friends. The illustrations were also fun with great expression, colour and action. A great addition to public, school, classroom and home libraries. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing about early chapter books, early readers, is that the story has to be easy enough for the reader to read, which usually makes the stories very stilted, and dull.

Not so in this case. The crazy friend that is invited over to play with Ginger Green, the play date queen, and there is nonstop action from the get-go, when her friend Maisy comes over, from her non-stop ringing of the door bell, to her stripping off her clothes, to climbing on the roof. She certainly is a crazy friend.

I quite enjoyed the wild-ride of this early chapter book, and I expect that kids will enjoy it too, as they probably all know one of those crazy friends.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Shirisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Maisy is Silly, and Maisy is loud. Maisy never does what I think She will do."

Ginger Green is a Playdate Queen. But the antics of her friend Maisy along with Ginger's little sister Penny , upsets her and she starts wishing she never thought of Playdate. How Ginger calms down Maisy and completes the playdate successfully forms the rest of the story. The book is appropriately titled as 'The Crazy Friend' , as Maisy deserves that title. She is silly, loud, crazy and a surprise package. I loved this book and the characters. The Illustrations by Jon Davis are beautiful.

Thanks to NetGalley and author for providing me this Book. I believe this book would be loved by the kids.

[Mandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was perfect as a read aloud with my 6 year old.
She's in Kindergarten and just starting to learn sight words. I love that she could "read" over my shoulder and recognize some words.
We enjoyed this story and will be looking for other books by this author. My girls are obsessed with foxes so they really enjoyed the illustrations. My youngest daughter is very much like Penny in this story so they thought that was hilarious!
A really sweet fun story that lead to a nice chat with my 6 year old about how we behave when we visit other peoples homes.
I received a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Picture Window Books for ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is lots of fun for both child and adult. The friend Maisy definitely acts crazy! She is invited to a playdate with a not so crazy friend Ginger. From the moment she comes through the door the energy and craziness begins...even to the point of Maisy removing all her clothes to play with the much younger sister who also has no clothes! Ginger handles things pretty well with the help of her mother. The book is fun and appropriate for the 6-8 age group who can also probably read most of it themselves. The illustrations are awesome!

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real cute, little book of three fun chapters! Great illustrations & a fun storyline that I think kids would enjoy, & adults would enjoy reading to them (& might even open up adults & kids to a little conversation about it!) It's part of a series, & I could see a little kid enjoying them all...if they're all similar to this!
I received this e-galley from NetGalley, simply in return for an unbiased review.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley to review. This book is a short chapter book. with small amount of words on each page. I believe it would be best for children from 5-8 .. Ginger Green is known as the play date queen. She invites her friend Maisy over to play but things do not go as planned. Maisy is a bit loud and a bit annoying add in some pranks along the way and you end up with a very cute book.

[Amber Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Within in first doorbell ring, I was in love with Ginger Green' s crazy friend. The characters in this book were relatable and I immediately thought of lots of children to refer this book to. The first being my daughter. From the mom's man voice to the little sister always being naked, I thought this book was perfect for many readers. The word to picture ratio was excellent for young readers and was entertaining enough to hold their attention. I hope to read more Ginger Green.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a really cute book. It had a real word scenario considering that not all children follow the house rules when they visit a new home. The parent interactions were perfect. This book is written in Ginger's point of view and lit most children she is very observant of everything. Children notice more than we as parents think.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Pearl Denault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the way this helps children learn to stand their ground with friends, and still find the absolute best in other people! Great for the younger audiences!! I absolutely recommend this story for family reading time!

[Carmen Tonks · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter is a very reluctant reader but she loves these books. A great theme that every child can relate to. Perfect for 6&7 yr olds to read by themselves.

[Fleur Ferris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another five stars from one huge 8 yo fan. Thank you Kim Kane for keeping my child enthusiastic about reading. ❤️

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.