Sloppy+Joe

Keane, D. (2009). //Sloppy Joe//. New York, NY: HarperCollins Children's Books.


 * Summary:** Joe is a sloppy kid and everyone tells him what to do. He says that he is "good at being sloppy," but doesn't like that his friend's mom won't let him in their house. After getting in trouble, Joe decides to change things and be Neat Joe. He washes the dog, cleans his room, and even sets the table for dinner, but everyone gets the flu and and no one notices... Until he begins taking care of everyone.


 * Grade Level:** PS-2
 * Reading Level:** 2.4

4.1.1 Read, view, and listen for pleasure and personal growth 4.1.4 Seek information for personal learning in a variety of formats and genres 4.3.3 Seek opportunities for pursuing personal and aesthetic growth
 * Standards for the 21st Century Learner:**
 * 4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth**

“Mom says I’m the first kid in history to take a school picture with gum stuck in his hair. You can barely notice.” Keane’s (Bobby Bramble Loses His Brain) opening lines, and the accompanying photo of disheveled Joe with a large wad of bubble gum on his head, clue readers in to this book’s humorous tone—at once understated and hyperbolic—from the outset. Brunkus’s (Junie B. Jones series) bustling art provides bountiful evidence of Joe’s sloppiness: food flies and milk spills as he shovels cereal into his mouth (wearing goggles for protection). But his effortless messiness (“I slurp, spill, slouch, talk with my mouth full, and put my elbows on the table without even trying”) has its downside: his friend’s mom refuses to let Joe—with a frog sticking out of his pocket and a puddle of mud under his sneakers—inside (“But I wiped my feet!” he laments). When his entire family comes down with the flu, his attempts to morph into Neat Joe and make soup have expectedly comedic results. From start to finish, this is good, not-so-clean fun.
 * Publisher's Weekly Review 2009: (from Mackin)**