Pippi to the Rescue (Pippi Longstocking)
Ages 5-7. The original Pippi Longstocking is 11 chapters, more than 150 pages, and minimally illustrated. The Pippi Longstocking Storybooks, excerpted from the longer novels, run about 30 pages and are heavily illustrated. Even so, there aren't many beginning readers who will be able to tackle them on their own. The original text, written at approximately fourth-grade level, is pretty much intact in Storybooks, and it does not have the controlled vocabulary and sentence structure a beginning reader needs. Still, as read-alouds or for teaming a beginning reader with an older reading buddy (as many schools are now doing), these will be a great way to introduce youngsters to Pippi's adventures. This episode, taken primarily from one chapter in the original book, describes how seemingly fearless Pippi saves two children from the highest floor of a burning building. Chesworth's illustrations are as colorful and animated as Pippi and go a long way toward bringing the 1948 text to life. The Pippi Longstocking Storybooks are also a great alternative for inclusion students whose classmates are reading the longer version.Lauren PetersonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved