The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill

Title:  The Recess Queen 
Author: Alexis O'Neill Illustrator: Laura Huliska-Beith

APA Bibliographic Information: ONeill, A., & Huliska-Beith, L. (2006). The Recess Queen. Gosford, N.S.W.: Scholastic.
Genre: Fiction
Lexile: AD550L

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Summary: 

This book is about a girl who's name is Jean but is known by everyone as the recess queen. Everyone is scared of her when it's time to go out for recess.  In other words, Jean is the typical bully we imagine. She screams and intimidates everyone in order to have it her way but this all changes when a new girl by the name of Katie Sue joins the class.  When it's time for recess Katie Sue jumps, swings and plays not knowing the rules that Jean had set out.  When Jean Bullies her, Katie simply ignores her and keeps playing.  The recess queen is shocked, no one had ever stood up for themselves. Not only this but Katie even invites Jean to play with her and she ends up accepting.  After this incident, everyone else is able to play at recess and no longer fear the recess queen. 

Who Would Enjoy this book? (Targeted Audience) :

This would be a great book for a teacher or parent to read to their students.  I would read this out loud to them because it does have some made up words and they might struggle to read them. Any child from the age of 5 to 7 would really enjoy this book. This would be really great for students who might be getting bullied or who are bullies themselves. It would also be a good book to teach students how they should behave when they are out at recess. 

Evaluation Of Text: 

The author of this book did a really great job playing around with the text. The text has movement and it scatters on the pages. There is a lot of rhyming and ryhtem when you read the book as well and I think that really captivates the listeners.  This book has great illustrations, I really like how the characters were diverse. If I had to rate this book I would give it a 4 out of 5.  The only reason I would give it four stars is that I feel like some students would have a difficult time with all the rhyming if they were to read it on their own. 

Reader Response Activity: 

For this activity you could have your kids work in groups if they are first or second graders, otherwise, you can do this as a big group.  You could take a picture of the main characters of the book which are the recess queen and Katie.  Around their pictures come up with words to describe each one.  This would be a good way for your students to see what characteristics a bully has and what characteristics a person who stands up for themselves has. This can be done by memory or by flipping through the pages to recall what the characters were like in the book.