Jingle Bells, Homework Smells (Gilbert the Opossum) - Softcover

DeGroat, Diane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0688175430 ISBN 13: 9780688175436

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2000

Synopsis

It's almost Christmas, and Gilbert finds it hard to pay attention in school. When Mrs. Byrd gives the class homework for the weekend, Gilbert just can't seem to find the time to do it. After all, this is a busy season. He has to help his mother and sister bake Christmas cookies. He also has to make time to go ice skating with his friends. And the tree has to be decorated too!

The joyous holiday feeling around Gilbert's house comes alive in warm, colorful, and humorous scenes. And every child who's ever put off a chore will sympathize with him when Monday morning rolls around...

About this title

About the Author

Diane de Groat says that the most difficult part of writing and illustrating this book was deciding what the correct title should be. I polled everyone I know, including teachers and students all over the country," she says. "And everyone disagreed on whether the jingle's words were 'you belong in a zoo' or 'you live in a zoo.' The opinions were split right down the middle, so I decided to use the words that I grew up singing."

Diane deGroat is the illustrator of over ninety children's books and the author-illustrator of the first two books about Gilbert, Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet and Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink, an IRA-CBC Children's Choice. Kirkus Reviews noted of the latter, "DeGroat pens a sympathetic took at the small hurts in life and the importance of second chances."

Ms. deGroat lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Reviews

Ages 5-7. When his teacher assigns homework on Friday, Gilbert the possum isn't too concerned. After all, he has all weekend to draw a picture of a book character. Unfortunately, he puts the assignment off on Friday afternoon and again on Saturday, forgetting about it until Monday morning. His last-ditch solution, to make a snowman outside the classroom window, gets the lukewarm reception it deserves, though his teacher kindly extends his deadline by a day. Children old enough to have homework will see themselves in Gilbert as he procrastinates over the weekend, then dreads going to school. The Christmas season makes a warm, colorful backdrop, which is reflected in the watercolor artwork more than in the story itself. Another entertaining entry in the series that includes Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink (1996) and Happy Birthday to You, You Belong in a Zoo (1999). Carolyn Phelan
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Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688175430
• ISBN 13: 9780688175436
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: DeGroat Diane
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32