The Meanest Thing To Say: A Little Bill Book for Beginning Readers, Level 3 (Oprah's Book Club) - Softcover

Cosby, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0590956167 ISBN 13: 9780590956161

Publisher: Cartwheel, 1997

Synopsis

This easy-to-read story about peer pressure by comedian and storyteller Bill Cosby is now a Scholastic Reader!

Michael Reilly has introduced a new game to Little Bill and his friends. You get twelve chances to say something mean to another kid--and whoever comes up with the biggest insult is the winner.

Insults start flying: "Jose hops with the frogs in science lab!" "Andrew eats frogs for dinner!" "Little Bill shoots baskets like a girl!"

Little Bill tries to think of really mean things to say in retaliation. But Dad teaches him a strategy that enables Little Bill to save face while remaining the nice kid that he really is!

About this title

Review:

Oprah Book Club® Selection, December 1997: The first three books in Bill Cosby's Little Bill series, which fall somewhere between Fat Albert and Fatherhood in sensibility, are designed to help kids cope with tough social situations. In The Meanest Thing to Say Little Bill must figure out how to avoid the challenge offered by the new kid in his class, "The Dozens," a duel of insults Bill doesn't want to join. With his family's help (which is free of preaching), Bill finds a solution.

Dr. Alvin F. Poussant, a frequent Cosby collaborator and advisor, adds a useful introduction to explain why Little Bill not only beats the game, but also goes on to befriend its instigator. (The publisher recommends the book for ages 4-8, but because the author is Bill Cosby, kids up to age 10 would probably accept the counsel offered by this volume and others in the series.)

From School Library Journal:

Kindergarten-Grade 3. Cosby turns his hand to writing, telling stories about situations that children often face. In The Best Way to Play, Little Bill, the narrator, and his friends get caught up in the excitement and marketing of their favorite TV cartoon, Space Explorers, and desperately want their parents to buy them the expensive video game. They become bored with it quickly, however, and realize that it's more fun to play Space Explorers outside. In The Meanest Thing to Say, Little Bill comes face to face with a bully. The Treasure Hunt takes him on a voyage of self-exploration. It seems to him that everyone in his family has a special quality. After a full day of searching, he discovers that his is "telling stories and making people laugh." These titles feature short chapters, making them appropriate for beginning readers?but they're also short enough to be read aloud. Honeywood's illustrations are bright and eye-catching, and show Little Bill and his friends and family as having distinctive personalities and characteristics. Each book comes with a letter to parents from a child psychiatrist about the subject matter in that book. While the writing is nothing extraordinary, Cosby has a good grasp of the issues and how the world looks through children's eyes. The primarily African-American characters also make these books welcome additions to easy-reader collections.?Dina Sherman, Brooklyn Children's Museum, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cartwheel
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0590956167
• ISBN 13: 9780590956161
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Honeywood Varnette P., Eywood Varnette Hon