Oggie Cooder #1
By Kate James,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Reluctant readers have a quirky new friend.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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What's the Story?
Oggie Cooder, an odd boy with hopelessly mismatched clothes, also has the oddest of hobbies: \"charving,\" or carving American cheese into distinct shapes. To achieve the perfect temperature for charving, Oggie must always walk with cheese in his back pocket. So no, he's not the most popular of kids … until someone unexpected notices his hidden talent and has special plans for him.
Is It Any Good?
OGGIE COODER is as easy to read as its title character is easy to like, even if kids would think he was a little too out there if they actually went to school with him. Just the descriptions of his oddballness will draw in reluctant readers. He wears mismatched clothes handpicked from his parents' consignment shop (called Too Good to Be Threw), complete with shoelaces he crocheted himself. His pockets are stuffed full of American cheese, and he expresses enthusiasm by chirping the phrase "Prrrrip!" loudly in public.
Even odder is the school princess, one Miss Donnica Perfecto, who has a profound interest in Oggie's cheese-carving hobby. Along with the humor is a sweet quality and a sense of fairness as you cheer on the underdog. Kids will delight in this story and look forward to more in the series.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how some people have unique skills and others are just unique. Do you have a hidden talent? Also, why is it enjoyable reading about offbeat characters like Oggie? Could you imagine him as a friend? Why or why not?
Book Details
- Author: Sarah Weeks
- Genre: Humor
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Scholastic Press
- Publication date: February 1, 2008
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 7 - 10
- Number of pages: 176
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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