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Blue Ribbon Blues: A Tooter Tale
Ever since her family moved to Aunt Sally's farm, Tooter's known that farm life is definitely not for her. There's no pizzeria for miles, her nearest neighbor is a dumb boy, and even her own pet chicken hates her! So Tooter decides to show everyone what she's made of by winning the blue ribbon at the County Fair's goat show. Now all she has to do is keep her little brother--and his paint brush--away from her prize goat!
80 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1998
11 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Spinelli
113 books4,015 followersWhen Jerry Spinelli was a kid, he wanted to grow up to be either a cowboy or a baseball player. Lucky for us he became a writer instead.
He grew up in rural Pennsylvania and went to college at Gettysburg College and Johns Hopkins University. He has published more than 25 books and has six children and 16 grandchildren.
Jerry Spinelli began writing when he was 16 — not much older than the hero of his book Maniac Magee. After his high school football team won a big game, his classmates ran cheering through the streets — all except Spinelli, who went home and wrote a poem about the victory. When his poem was published in the local paper, Spinelli decided to become a writer instead of a major-league shortstop.
In most of his books, Spinelli writes about events and feelings from his own childhood. He also gets a lot of material from his seven adventurous kids! Spinelli and his wife, Eileen, also a children's book author, live in Pennsylvania.
He grew up in rural Pennsylvania and went to college at Gettysburg College and Johns Hopkins University. He has published more than 25 books and has six children and 16 grandchildren.
Jerry Spinelli began writing when he was 16 — not much older than the hero of his book Maniac Magee. After his high school football team won a big game, his classmates ran cheering through the streets — all except Spinelli, who went home and wrote a poem about the victory. When his poem was published in the local paper, Spinelli decided to become a writer instead of a major-league shortstop.
In most of his books, Spinelli writes about events and feelings from his own childhood. He also gets a lot of material from his seven adventurous kids! Spinelli and his wife, Eileen, also a children's book author, live in Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 11, 2019
Tooter Pepperday tries to adjust to living on her Aunt Sally's farm, but the going is a tad bit rough. Her pet chickens won't listen to her, and her nearest neighbor is Jack Hafer, a boy farmer who seems to dislike her. Tooter gets a goat to enter into the state fair to show Jack up. But an incident with a can of blue paint puts a damper on her plans, but Tooter still finds a way to shine.
February 9, 2018
i kind of liked it. i cant really say my favorite part of the book because i didn't like it. the book looked it was written by a 12 year old.
November 21, 2019
Enjoyed
My students love this book! It is high interest and low level reading. My first graders gave it five stars.
My students love this book! It is high interest and low level reading. My first graders gave it five stars.
April 23, 2016
This is a great short story that will be engaging for all readers. It's a great story about a little girl named Tooter who decides to challenge herself by entering her goat in a competition. Her family and neighbors have doubts but she decides to enter anyways. It is a great story to talk to students about perseverance and staying dedicated to something that you believe in. In the end Tooter and the neighbor form and friendship and the boy does a selfless act for Tooter. This is a great story to also show students how to overcome your differences with someone and become friends.
This story would be great for read alouds in the classroom because it will appeal to many students. There may be students who do not know anything about farms or goat competitions but the story does a great job of giving the reader enough background. I think this story would be engaging for boys as well as girls because of the setting of the story and because the female main character. This was a WOW book for me because it was fun to read but also brought a good message for readers!
This story would be great for read alouds in the classroom because it will appeal to many students. There may be students who do not know anything about farms or goat competitions but the story does a great job of giving the reader enough background. I think this story would be engaging for boys as well as girls because of the setting of the story and because the female main character. This was a WOW book for me because it was fun to read but also brought a good message for readers!
June 3, 2009
This is a nice short story, with some good Jerry Spinelli moments. It's interesting to see that Tooter Pepperday's acclimation to the farming lifestyle is not fast or easy, and Jerry Spinelli presents this scenario in an entirely realistic way.
"Blue Ribbon Blues" is a very short book, most likely able to be read in a single day, and I would say that it is certainly worth the time to read through it.
"Blue Ribbon Blues" is a very short book, most likely able to be read in a single day, and I would say that it is certainly worth the time to read through it.
November 3, 2014
Man, I hate to bag on Spinelli again ... so I won't. I know I'm not anywhere near his intended audience. These Tooter books are for a very young audience. That being said, the could be more exciting. After all, someone has to read them to that very young audience.
June 17, 2012
This is a great story for 3-4th graders. It is a funny story, great to have students laughing while reading. Read Tooter Pepperday first, this will make more sense.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews