The Great Dewey Hunt

by Sachiko Yoshikawa (Illustrator), Toni Buzzeo

Fourth-grade twins Hugh and Louis Abernathy try and help their classmate Carmen find the book she urgently needs in the library while guiding the second grade class in Mrs. Skorpuski's Great Dewey Hunt.

Genres: Picture Books, Books About Books, Childrens, School

36 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically a librarian's fantasy of the perfect lesson on the Dewey Decimal System. All kids are eager to learn and get it right away, and library love abounds. A great book for librarians and library teachers, but to be honest, I can't see it being an interesting read or even read-aloud for children.

[Samantha Chinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Louis and Hugh are twin brothers whose class is sent to the library one day to learn the Dewey decimal system. Once there Carmen, a loud, rude girl in their class interrupts the librarian because she is searching for a book on plays that is lost. The librarian tells her it may be misplaced, that is why the Dewey system is so important because without it it would be impossible to find any books. The class is assigned to search for objects and create their own Dewey system and when they return they pair up with a younger class to work in pairs to find books in the sections they have been assigned. Louis and Hugh get Carmen’s little sister Freida and they search frantically in the 000 category and end up being the first team to finish the task. Freida even finds the misplaced book on plays that her sister was looking for.

This book appeals to younger elementary school kids who are learning the Dewey decimal system for the first time. It teaches them the system in a kid-friendly way and this is appealing to kids who may seem overwhelmed by the system at first. The book would be implemented into my display to teach the children that it is important to put books back exactly where they found them, because they need to be in their special spot or else no one would be able to find them.

Buzzeo, T. (2010). The great Dewey hunt. Janesville, Wisconsin: UpstartBooks

[Hayley Zamzow-Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, the Dewey Decimal system, what would we do without it? The Great Dewey Hunt(Mrs. Skorupski Story0 by Toni Buzzeo looks into the story of Mrs. Skorupski, a librarian, who teachers her students how to use the ever so important Dewey Decimal system. Urging students to learn through small competitions, the librarian assigns them different number areas, where they must find books on 10 different subject matters. Upon finding the books, they must find items that match those different subjects. Eventually the re-shelve the books, getting an even better understanding of this system.

This book is great for students who are in 3rd-5th grade. It covers a subject that is important for this age group to learn, in a fun and interesting way.

The appeal of this book is that it teaches a lesson, while also being fun. The idea of mini competitions to enhance the learning experience can be used in many classroom settings.

Being in the library science field, this would be perfect for my younger patrons learning their way around the library. It would also be useful for me to create new activities for them to learn more about library systems.

[Emmaline MacBeath · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY: Mrs. Skorupski, the librarian, gathers Mr. Dickinson's class to play a game in order to learn the Dewey Decimal system. The fourth graders find 10 books from each section of the library. Then, their homework is to find items that represent each section. Back at school, the fourth graders hide the items among the shelves for the second graders and team up with them to find the items as well as a matching book.

ILLUSTRATIONS: The illustrations are colorful and full of energy.

THE GOOD: Any time something difficult can be learned through a game is wonderful. And teaming up older students with younger is even better. The game illustrated in the book is a wonderful way to learn about how to navigate a library.
THE NOT AS GOOD: The storyline was very lengthy and did not flow quickly. I felt like I was reading a chapter book rather than a picture story. I believe children would much rather play the game than read about the game.

AGE RECOMMENDATION: Grades 2-4

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Great Dewey Hunt" written by Toni Buzzeo was a wonderful read for children and librarians. This story is about a Librarian named Mrs. Skorupski who teaches the students about the dewey decimal system through little competitions. The students are assigned different number areas in which they first go and find 10 books with their number that have different subject matters. After that they are supposed to find items that match the book subject that they have. Finally they have to re-shelve their books in order.

It is a wonderful way for kid's to learn more about non-fiction reads. I thought this would be great for a librarian to do with kids for the summer reading program to teach them about the variety of books that are out there. I would recommend this book for ages 7-9. Great read!

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very lively, bright illustrations. Helped make the story a lot of fun.
There's actually a good amount of information in there about Dewey classification and how to use it. Would recommend it for mid-elementary school students who are starting to use the nonfiction section of the library more and more.
Only thing I really didn't like about the story was the character development. It was obviously not the first book in the series, as the characters were already pretty established. And frankly, Carmen was kinda a whiny grump, and rather mean to her sister! Biggest complaint about the story.
Overall, though, a pretty good way to make learning Dewey more concrete/applicable and more entertaining. Unfortunately, I can't use it in my library for much longer; we're reclassifying to a "bookshop" classification system. :(

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book that school librarians will love for teaching about the library. Buzzeo has written a very specific book about learning to use Dewey numbers. In fact, that book is really just an introduction to a lesson that you can duplicate for 3rd - 5th graders in a school library. The copy that I reviewed included an extensive library lessons teacher insert.

I do in fact like this book and the activity. It's not about memorizing Dewey numbers; it really teaches students to understand how subject areas are grouped and how call numbers are arranged. It's nice if kids know that the 600's are about technology, but really, my goal is to make sure students know how to find books.

[Rebecca Mullins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about the Dewy Decimal system. It's about a librarian who sets up competitions in the library, and the children have to learn the system to win the competitions. This is great for children just learning to go to the library, and learning how to put books away. It's great for when children are learning which sections of the library have certian books.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for library lessons.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twins Hugh and Louis Abernathy take the lead when their fourth grade class hosts Mr. Hester's second grade class for Mrs. Skorupski's Great Dewey Hunt.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this to review Dewey Decimal Classification with my 3rd graders.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one is basically a hot mess. It's part of a series I guess (subtitle: "A Mrs. Skorupski Story") so we jump right in with a bunch of characters who are given no context for who they are; I guess we are assumed to be already familiar with this. Mrs. Skorupski is presumably the school librarian and is a wingnut Miss Frizzle knock-off character -- a white lady with blonde hair piled high in an updo, glasses, black capris, teal-and-pink striped socks, low-heeled pink shoes, a yellow shirt, and a green cardigan. She also apparently is wearing "rhinestone numbers" (Dewey numbers, naturally) in the form of pins, rings, earrings, etc. She talks like Ned Flanders, which is horrifying. ("Okily dokily," I shit you not.) The students have a long and confusing assignment about finding items under different Dewey sections, and there is a LOT of text per page. I can't imagine that this would hold little one's attention. Mrs. Whatsherface later changes into a purple cape decorated with Dewey decimal numbers and a red dress with green tights and black boots and the kids complete their assignment, or something. I hated it. 

[Peyton Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book to introduce the Dewey Decimal System and the importance of using it. Although I would not use this book in my classroom, I think this would be an excellent book to read in the library for students to learn where books are and how to find them.