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A Is for Elizabeth #2
Big Mouth Elizabeth
Big Mouth Elizabeth is the second in a new chapter book series spinning off of the Justin Case books, starring Justin's little sister, Elizabeth.
Second-grader Elizabeth longs to be a member of the Big Mouth Club, which is made up of kids who have lost at least one baby tooth. Elizabeth is WAY behind on losing her baby teeth, and so is Cali, a quiet girl who is also left out of the Big Mouth Club. Elizabeth thinks Cali is so much more babyish than she is―in fact, Elizabeth SHOULD be in the Big Mouth Club because she's NOT babyish. But when she understands how bad it feels to be left out, Elizabeth's attitude shifts.
Here is a story about fitting in in unexpected ways. With copious line art by Paige Keiser, this second book in Rachel Vail's Elizabeth series is sure to delight fans of Judy Moody, Junie B. Jones, and Clementine.
Second-grader Elizabeth longs to be a member of the Big Mouth Club, which is made up of kids who have lost at least one baby tooth. Elizabeth is WAY behind on losing her baby teeth, and so is Cali, a quiet girl who is also left out of the Big Mouth Club. Elizabeth thinks Cali is so much more babyish than she is―in fact, Elizabeth SHOULD be in the Big Mouth Club because she's NOT babyish. But when she understands how bad it feels to be left out, Elizabeth's attitude shifts.
Here is a story about fitting in in unexpected ways. With copious line art by Paige Keiser, this second book in Rachel Vail's Elizabeth series is sure to delight fans of Judy Moody, Junie B. Jones, and Clementine.
144 pages, Paperback
Published May 5, 2020
About the author
Rachel Vail
59 books463 followersBirth
I was born on July 25, 1966, in NEW YORK CITY, and grew up in New Rochelle, NY, with my mother, my father, and my younger brother Jon. (And down the street from my future husband, though of course I didn't know that until much later.)
Interests
Some details, I do know-I was very into reading and theater, so I read every book I could get my hands on (especially realistic fiction, either contemporary or historical) and took acting workshops and auditioned for every play in school, camp, or the community. I played Peter Pan, Miss Hannigan in Annie, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and lots of extremely memorable chorus parts-for instance, I was "girl number two" in Fiddler on the Roof-the one who said "We heard about your sister, Chava". I didn't care -I just wanted to be on stage. Waiting backstage before curtain call, after giving my all in a performance, was the best feeling I knew. In seventh grade I started taking magic lessons, and by eighth grade I was making all my own spending money by performing at kids' birthday parties as a clown named Tallulah. I liked the freedom of wearing all that grease-paint-I could be as wacky and un-cool as I wanted. I tried dance but felt so clumsy. I faked a sprained ankle to get out of the recital. I took voice lessons which made me a little light-headed (and I was afraid of the voice teacher's growling, drooling Doberman) and both saxophone and piano, neither of which I ever practiced. I did well in school but started a lot of my work at the last minute, in a crazy mad dash, so that it was never late but there were usually careless errors or areas I had to fudge. I had this idea that to work hard at something was sort of a negative, an admission that I didn't have natural talent. If I wasn't going to be Mozart and have the music (or dance, or math, or social studies term paper, or whatever) channeled through me from God, then I was just embarrassing myself by all that workmanlike effort. I didn't get over that idea until after college, by the way.
Career Ambitions
I never really planned to be a writer. I planned to be a financial wizard after learning about option-spreading at age 10, then a poet after discovering Shakespeare at 11. After overhearing "the real power is held by the lobbyists" on a class trip to Albany, I planned to become a lobbyist. Secretly, of course I always imagined myself as an actress, but that didn't seem hard or important enough, and also I worried I wasn't naturally gifted enough.
Parents
My parents were always great. I liked to make them proud, and they trusted me and supported my efforts and interests, which was sometimes weirdly tough. There was so little for me to rebel against.
As a Kid
When people ask me what I was as a kid, I always feel like my answer is at best incomplete.What are you like, as a kid? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm like as an adult.
Socially
Well, things went in waves. Sometimes I felt very "in", very aware of and tied in to the whole scene, excited by who liked whom, all the gossip, some of it less than kind. Other times I felt so alone-like there was nobody like me, nobody who liked me, nobody to talk to. And much of the time it was somewhere in between. A best friend when I was lucky, and a few people in each crowd I liked and who liked me. I resisted being classified as a brain or a jock or alternative or popular-too limiting. I would have to shut down too many parts of myself to be just one type.
Adolescence
I went through a very intense stage in middle school (Junior High). I worried about being too ordinary. I also worried about being too weird. I also worried about changing states of matter, my inability to be morally certain, ignorance (my own and world-wide), and making a fool of myself.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rachel...
I was born on July 25, 1966, in NEW YORK CITY, and grew up in New Rochelle, NY, with my mother, my father, and my younger brother Jon. (And down the street from my future husband, though of course I didn't know that until much later.)
Interests
Some details, I do know-I was very into reading and theater, so I read every book I could get my hands on (especially realistic fiction, either contemporary or historical) and took acting workshops and auditioned for every play in school, camp, or the community. I played Peter Pan, Miss Hannigan in Annie, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and lots of extremely memorable chorus parts-for instance, I was "girl number two" in Fiddler on the Roof-the one who said "We heard about your sister, Chava". I didn't care -I just wanted to be on stage. Waiting backstage before curtain call, after giving my all in a performance, was the best feeling I knew. In seventh grade I started taking magic lessons, and by eighth grade I was making all my own spending money by performing at kids' birthday parties as a clown named Tallulah. I liked the freedom of wearing all that grease-paint-I could be as wacky and un-cool as I wanted. I tried dance but felt so clumsy. I faked a sprained ankle to get out of the recital. I took voice lessons which made me a little light-headed (and I was afraid of the voice teacher's growling, drooling Doberman) and both saxophone and piano, neither of which I ever practiced. I did well in school but started a lot of my work at the last minute, in a crazy mad dash, so that it was never late but there were usually careless errors or areas I had to fudge. I had this idea that to work hard at something was sort of a negative, an admission that I didn't have natural talent. If I wasn't going to be Mozart and have the music (or dance, or math, or social studies term paper, or whatever) channeled through me from God, then I was just embarrassing myself by all that workmanlike effort. I didn't get over that idea until after college, by the way.
Career Ambitions
I never really planned to be a writer. I planned to be a financial wizard after learning about option-spreading at age 10, then a poet after discovering Shakespeare at 11. After overhearing "the real power is held by the lobbyists" on a class trip to Albany, I planned to become a lobbyist. Secretly, of course I always imagined myself as an actress, but that didn't seem hard or important enough, and also I worried I wasn't naturally gifted enough.
Parents
My parents were always great. I liked to make them proud, and they trusted me and supported my efforts and interests, which was sometimes weirdly tough. There was so little for me to rebel against.
As a Kid
When people ask me what I was as a kid, I always feel like my answer is at best incomplete.What are you like, as a kid? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm like as an adult.
Socially
Well, things went in waves. Sometimes I felt very "in", very aware of and tied in to the whole scene, excited by who liked whom, all the gossip, some of it less than kind. Other times I felt so alone-like there was nobody like me, nobody who liked me, nobody to talk to. And much of the time it was somewhere in between. A best friend when I was lucky, and a few people in each crowd I liked and who liked me. I resisted being classified as a brain or a jock or alternative or popular-too limiting. I would have to shut down too many parts of myself to be just one type.
Adolescence
I went through a very intense stage in middle school (Junior High). I worried about being too ordinary. I also worried about being too weird. I also worried about changing states of matter, my inability to be morally certain, ignorance (my own and world-wide), and making a fool of myself.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rachel...
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 27, 2019
This one is a 3.5 for me, but oh, how I would have loved it as a child. Second grader Elizabeth feels babyish after her classmate Anna and some of the other students lose a baby tooth. Since she still has all her baby teeth, Elizabeth feels left out, especially after the girls start a Big Mouth Club, and membership is denied to her since she doesn't qualify with her mouthful of original teeth. When Babyish Cali reaches out to her, Elizabeth is reluctant to accept her offer of friendship. With firm insistence from her mother, she accepts a playdate and realizes that there's a lot more to Cali than she realized and that she's to blame for a thing or two. The illustrations and text capture perfectly what it's like to feel left out for reasons beyond your control and what it feels like to be a part of something. In all her imperfections, Elizabeth will remind many readers of themselves, and the book might provide an avenue for discussing acceptance, inclusion, empathy and kindness. After all, how hard is it to reserve judgment on someone or to reach out to someone we don't know and learn more about them?
June 6, 2019
Our beloved spunky second grader, Elizabeth is at it again! This time, Elizabeth wants to become a member of the "Big Mouth Club". The club is comprised of students who have lost one or more of their baby teeth. Elizabeth feels left out because she still has all of her baby teeth. Only Elizabeth and Cali are not in the club and Elizabeth feels Cali is too babyish to be included. Elizabeth learns how to fit in with her peers while being different.
In this novel, Elizabeth learns about fitting in and treating fellow classmates with respect. It was fun reading how Elizabeth copes with being left out of a popular club while trying not to do the same to a fellow classmate. While reading this book, I remembered my own "why do I still have all my baby teeth" phase. This was another great addition to the Elizabeth series.
In this novel, Elizabeth learns about fitting in and treating fellow classmates with respect. It was fun reading how Elizabeth copes with being left out of a popular club while trying not to do the same to a fellow classmate. While reading this book, I remembered my own "why do I still have all my baby teeth" phase. This was another great addition to the Elizabeth series.
February 6, 2020
Elizabeth is having friendship struggles in second grade. All the children in her class have lost baby teeth except for her and "babyish" Cali. As the girls who have lost teeth form a "Big Mouth" club, Elizabeth feels more desperate to lose a tooth and be in the club. She is frustrated that people move at their own pace and that she has been grouped with babyish Cali. When her mom is fully aware of what is going on, she helps Elizabeth learn some lessons about name-calling, and about being brave to stand up against the crowd.
I really like how real these situations are in elementary, and also how bad behavior gets addressed. Really entertaining and socially educational books!
I really like how real these situations are in elementary, and also how bad behavior gets addressed. Really entertaining and socially educational books!
August 18, 2020
The title is (intentionally) misleading and the actual meaning is perfect. For a lesson in exclusivity in the 2nd grade, nothing beats joining Elizabeth as she wades into the deep waters of friendship.
June 29, 2019
The good fun continues in this companion series to the Justin Case series.
Read
October 18, 2019Fiction V128b 2019
December 3, 2019
nice first grader book about theeth
September 25, 2020
My 7 year old said he likes this one better than the first. He said the kids weren’t as mean.
July 2, 2023
Much better than the first book!
Want to Read
April 8, 2026A, O
February 16, 2023
Quick fun kids book
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews