Review:THE CLASS TRIP by Betsy Lewin

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Maccarone, Grace. 1999. THE CLASS TRIP. Ill by Betsy Lewin. Cartwheel ISBN 0439067553

2. PLOT SUMMARY

This story for beginning readers opens with Sam and his classmates going on a field trip to the zoo. Before they leave, the teacher puts on a hat with a large polka-dot bow, which is important to the resolution of this story. Sam has a wonderful time at the zoo looking at the chimps, monkeys, polar bears and other animals. He enjoys himself so much that he lingers at each cage and has to be repeatedly reminded by his teacher to keep up with the group. Alas, Sam loses track of his class and has a scare. All is well when the worried Sam spies the polka-dot bow. Sam has learned his lesson: he runs to his teacher, gets some ice cream and resolves to stay with the group.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

THE CLASS TRIP is a First-Grade Friends Hello Reader book; with a vocabulary perfect for building beginning reading skills in Preschool through First-Grade children. The large letters are easy to read, with short sentences and only a few words per page. Although the sentences are extremely short, Maccarone's  use of rhyming words causes the story to flow, and makes it entertaining for children. This easy-reader with its almost too simple plot, still manages to teach a valuable safety lesson to young children while entertaining them with pictures of the animals at the zoo and relatable characters who are in their age group.

 Betsy Lewin made this book approachable for all children by including characters of various races, gender, and disabilities in her illustrations. The watercolor illustrations reflect the joy on the students faces as they head off on their trip and the worry on Sam’s face when he realizes he has lost his class. The soft hues of the water-color illustrations also enhance the comical features of the animals in the zoo as they bask in the sun, swing from the trees and float in the pond. The polka-dot bow is prominent in the illustrations because it is such an important part of the story.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT

Children's Literature:  “The loose watercolor illustrations are perfect for portraying this class outing and clearly depict the tension created when Sam is momentarily lost.”   

5. CONNECTIONS

Although this book is most appropriate for a younger age group, second graders in my class liked the pictures of the zoo animals with the comical expressions on their faces, and could relate to Sam having such a good time that he got distracted and fell behind. Struggling Second grade readers found this to be a book that they could manage to read independently.

If you work with beginning readers, this is a good book to use. Most of the words in the story are those found on Pre-primer and primer sight word lists. This selection could also be used as a lead-in to teaching rhyming words.

Other books for beginning readers by Grace Maccarone and Illustrated by Betsy Lewin are:

Maccarone, Grace. THE LUNCH BOX SURPRISE. ISBN 059026267X

Maccarone, Grace. MAY I PLEASE HAVE A COOKIE? ISBN 0439738199

Maccarone, Grace. “WHAT IS THAT?” SAID THE CAT. ISBN 0590259458