Rating: I like it, but some families may not

Reading level: Early Elementary

Unfortunately the masterful story that Sarah Penny packer put together, is one that I tragically can NEVER give it to my oldest son to read! Why? Clementine connects chicken (food) and a sweet little chicken (hen) pecking at Clementine’s toes—which leads her to become a vegetarian. Now I’m not against vegetarian diets, but if my string bean kid jumps on this bandwagon it would be the death of me!

Possible Concerns:

  • The Origins/Truth about Meat. The aforementioned issue where Clementine realizes that chicken comes from a chicken, etc., and begins to become a vegetarian.
  • Parent Remarriage. Margaret struggles with the news that her mom & longtime boyfriend, Allan, are getting married. Clementine reasons with her & gets to the bottom of Margaret’s distress: she doesn’t like his pipe-smoking habit. They problem-solve some potential solutions.
  • Gender Roles. Clementine’s mother has a soapbox moment about how the gender of a person shouldn’t determine their capacity or value. If you believe in conservative gender roles, you wont like this hormone-infused rant.
  • Romance. Clementine clearly has a crush on Margaret’s older brother Mitchell and in an incriminating way declares that he is NOT her boyfriend. This minor mention is recurrent throughout the series.
  • Germaphobia. Margaret is obsessively afraid of germs. I think this would only be an issue for a family with a kid who has a similar obsession.
  • Tattoos. Clementine has a particular interest in tattoos.
  • Luck. Several references to the number 5 being Clementine’s lucky number.
  • Pig-Latin-ish type talk. Sometimes it might be difficult to understand what kids are saying because they use a new kid-created language that is sometimes difficult to understand.

Here are links to my reviews of other Clementine books:

Clementine (Book 1)https://jesuslovesthebookworms.wordpress.com/2022/07/28/clementine-and-the-talented-clementine-by/
The Talented Clementine (Book 2)https://jesuslovesthebookworms.wordpress.com/2022/07/28/clementine-and-the-talented-clementine-by/
Clementine’s letter (Book 3)https://jesuslovesthebookworms.wordpress.com/2023/01/24/clementines-letter-by-sara-pennypacker/
Clementine, Friend of the Week (Book 4)https://jesuslovesthebookworms.wordpress.com/2023/03/21/clementine-friend-of-the-week-by-sara-pennypacker/
Clementine and the Family Meeting (Book 5)https://jesuslovesthebookworms.wordpress.com/2023/04/23/clementine-and-the-family-meeting-book-5-by-sara-pennypacker/
Clementine and the Spring Trip (Book 6)https://jesuslovesthebookworms.wordpress.com/2023/06/23/clementine-and-the-spring-trip-book-5-by-sarah-pennypacker/