The Cool Crazy Crickets to the Rescue

The Cool Crazy Crickets

by David Elliott, Paul Meisel (Illustrator)

The Crickets are back and they will have beginning readers jumping to join this cool crazy club!

Leo, Phoebe, Miranda, and Marcus, the friendly neighborhood kids (and Noodles the dog, their mascot) who started the club featured in  The Cool Crazy Crickets , are back for a second book of easy-to-read adventures. On a quest for summer pocket money, they’re busy little-brother-sitting, pet-sitting, and running a lemonade stand. But when a one-eyed stray cat needs their help, will all their hard work be for nothing? The Crickets and their exploits — humorously illustrated by Paul Meisel — will have beginning readers jumping to join this cool crazy club!

Genres: Friendship

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

David Elliott is the author of THE COOL CRAZY CRICKETS and THE TRANSMOGRIFICATION OF ROSCOE WIZZLE. He says of AND HERE'S TO YOU!, "My neighbor’s rooster and I were having a disagreement. I wanted to sleep in the morning; he wanted to crow. The rooster won, of course. The first verse of AND HERE'S TO YOU! is a tribute to his victory and to the joys found in simply following your nature."

Reviews

[Melissa Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've decided to do a spotlight on David Elliot because I loved his YA poetry re-tellings so much. What did I think about this children's book? It had a great moral. 4 stars.

I wasn't able to borrow the first book in this trilogy, "The Cool Crazy Crickets", but I can assume that it's the same as this one, but the moral is different. What I like about kids trilogies are that you generally don't have to read them in order, it's just the same characters.

In this book 'The Cool Crazy Crickets Club, is made of four friends, Marcus, Phoebe, Miranda and Leo. They have a mascot, their dog, Noodles. In this book, there is a one eyed stray cat that Noodles chases away because the parents of the kids said stray cats can be dangerous. They might bite or scratch. One day the kids want snacks after playing with Noodles, but when they get to Mr. Lee's store they realize that the snacks cost money and they don't have any. So the kids decide to earn the money through babysitting, pet sitting and having a lemonade stand. The kids earn the money and are thinking what they want to buy with their money. However, later that day they come across that stray cat and it looks sick. The kids decide they'll take the cat to the vet. The vet tells them helping the cat will be very expensive. The kids realize that helping the cat instead of buying snacks or other things for their club is better use of their earned money.

I liked the moral of the story. It helps kids realize that sometimes the things we want aren't as important as helping someone or an animal in need. This was a short book with only 4 chapters. I think it would be good for 2nd and 3rd graders. The words are quite easy to read and the chapters are short. I wish my county had the other books to read, but I'll have to be content with just this one.

On to the next one...

[Amaor · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are four children are the cool crazy crickets clubhouse with their mascot dog Noodles. In order to make money for their club, they work as little-baby-sitting, Irish wolfhound pet-sitting and setting up a lemonade stand. however, when the stray dirty one-eyed cat sicked and needs their help, they all sure it is right decision to spend all the money to help the poor cat, even though strays could be tricky. It is a celebration, the stray cat keep as Noodles' mascot, they named her Keeper, the crickets all agreed that earning money was fun, but saving Keeper was more fun.

This book is easy to understand and read, I like it.

[Dylan & Belle at LearnPlayFun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about the Cool Crazy Crickets to the rescue. I'm not talking about the crickets the insects, it's the Cool Crazy Crickets club. But seriously it's actually kids running the club and I hope it doesn't foil your excitement. There's a one-eyed cat in the book. I don't know why it only has one eye. The book doesn't tell you. The clubhouse is made up of cardboard. You think it's in their house? No way. They can go inside, opening doors, windows, you name it.

My favorite part is Teddy. They have to baby sit for Teddy to earn money. It's my favorite part because it's so funny. And there's one more thing, folks. Guess who Teddy is? Is he a teddy bear? No. Is he a baby? Yes. You should hear him cry.

Rated and reviewed by Dylan, age 8.

[Franki Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book. I loved how the kids worked so hard to earn money for themselves and then ended up spending it on something completely opposite. I think this book has a great moral to it.

[Fjóla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abundantly illustrated in full color and very accessible. Good transitional chapter book.

[Niko]

***Independent Read***