Only Emma

Emma #1

by Sally Warner, Jamie Harper (Illustrations)

Eight-year-old Emma McGraw is an only child who lives with her mom in their "cozy" condo. When four-year-old Anthony Scarpetto moves in for a week while his parents are away, Emma is not happy. He's loud, he smells, and he touches her stuff. And that's only half of it! Emma has started at a new school, and has finally begun to make friends. But how can she invite anyone over when annoying Anthony is there? Emma is in for a surprise, though. As the week goes by, she starts to realize that having a "little brother" may not be as bad as she thought.

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Juvenile, Audiobook, Chapter Books, Middle Grade

115 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2005

About the author

Sally Warner is a writer of fiction for children and young adults and of books on creativity. She made the Lily series and Emma series for children's books. Sally Warner was born in New York City and grew up in Connecticut and California, where her family moved when she was eight years old.

Reviews

[Ruhama · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: the sequel is published and called Not-so-Weird Emma

Emma is an only child and loves it, but her mom’s best friend has to leave her 4 year old son with Emma and her mom for a week, and Emma is convinced he’ll ruin everything. Once he’s moved in, Emma feels he’s taking over her room, her mother and her usually quiet life. Emma has also just moved to a new school, and is attempting to foster a friendship, and Anthony (the preschooler) seems to be ruining that, too. But is he really that bad or will Emma find she misses him when he leaves?

This is another set along the lines of Amber Brown and Judy Moody, but not nearly as clever and well-written. Warner does a good job capturing some aspects of a third-grader, but several sentences feel forced and emotions don’t make any sense (which makes it confusing, despite trying to imitate life). Emma is a likable girl, and her home life is a good picture of a single mom’s household. Emma enjoys nature programs, and often compares life to snippets she’s learned, and we see those in boxes throughout the book. If you’re looking for more books to feed to your girls that are beyond Junie B., but not quite ready for Ramona and have read all the Judy Moodys, then hand them this book (and its sequel).

[Justine Laismith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book. The narrator is very good.

The voice in the story is very strongly an eight-year old. She is an only child and is a proper little madam. When her mother agrees to look after another boy for a week, she is not happy. This new addition for the week is disrupting her routine.

Emma is new to the school and has finally found a friend. This friend is also an only child and is also used to having her own way. They have their fights and they make up. Naturally Emma is keen to keep this friendship. However, she makes the wrong choices and gets herself into a sticky situation.

This will make a great book to offer children if they are expecting a younger sibling to come along.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It's a cute story, with a good life lesson in it. Great book to booktalk to my third grade kids.

[Joseph Whitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first "large" chapter book I read with only Emma.... see what I did there? See, my daughter's name is Emma and... well, I'm sure you get the idea.

I'm sure my Emma just picked out this book because of its title but no matter. It was quality time with her regardless of the motivation.

The story was fine enough. It was a reasonable challenge for her to read on her own but she was able to retain the information extremely well between reading sessions. That, to me, says a lot.

The characters were reasonably varied floyd the intended audience and the plot very accessible even for first graders. There were a couple of ideas presented that I didn't expect and want altogether thrilled to read but that's part of life and we talked and moved on. No big deal.

The ending was very....depressing...to me. The book's title is because Emma is all alone. She's an only child. She's happy about that but gets a week with a younger unrelated boy and starts to become close. When the boy leaves, she's left feeling bad and laments that it's only her.... and then the book ends. Not exactly what I would call uplifting or encouraging.

Oh well. I got to spend time with my Emma.... ironically, without any of her siblings.

[Alanna Fenn]

This book is about Emma, an only child who loves being one. One day her single mum's friend asks them to take care of her 4-year-old son for a week. The story goes from Emma hating having to spend time with the toddler to growing to really like and care for him and thinking that having a sibling might not be that bad after all.

It is a short, light read, that could be useful for an 8-year-old expecting a younger sibling, for example. There isn't anything special about the story really, but it isn't bad either. Younger readers will have a hard time understanding why you might only have a phone in a certain room and would need explaining what a VCR is, but the kids' feelings and emotions are still relevant today.

Something that bothered me was Emma's friend's behaviour towards the little boy whom she attempted to treat like a dog who could be trained, and nobody really making a big deal out of it, meaning the girl met with absolutely zero consequences for that. And Emma just kept making excuses for her friend. I thought that certainly wasn't a good lesson there.

[Ms. Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma is completely happy living with her mother and being an only child. But when the neighbors need to take an emergency trip, they decide to leave their four-year-old son, Anthony, with Emma and her mother. He makes messes, is demanding, and drives Emma up the wall. And when Emma makes a new friend at school, a friend who might turn into a best friend, she needs to figure out how to deal with the Anthony problem once and for all.

The first in a series. Recommended for anyone who likes stories about siblings (even temporary ones), friendship, or chaos.

[Tara Ethridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love that this dealt with being an only child and the positives and challenges of that. Emma's mom is taking care of a family friend who is four years old and a bit of a pain. Also dealing with a new friendship where the girl is a bit high maintenance. This book came out in 2005 so there are a few elements there were now comical (land lines, VCR machines) but overall the topic will still resonate with 3rd and 4th graders, I think.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depending on how jaded the reader is, how many other similar books she's read, she may rate it higher. It's cute, with a good message, not didactic. But the faces are creepy, imo, and this budding biologist shouldn't blame nature for the eucalyptus sans koalas in California but should know that the trees were brought to the US unwisely, and are moderately invasive.

[Raving Redcoat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming little book about a girl who is quite happy being an only child. She finds her comfortable life turned upside down when a neighbor's kid has to spend a week with her and her mother. Well worth a quick read.

[Anastasia Tuckness · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been only Emma and her mom for a long time, but recently a family friend had an emergency and their 4-year-old boy needs a place to live for a few days. Emma is definitely unsure about this turn of events!

Good realistic fiction about real kids and real life!

[Teresa]

Good history

[Niamh Massy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it because Emma started being mean to Anthony, but at the end she was nice to him.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about an only child learning to live with a "little brother."

[Crisbel]

5 *****

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children's chapter book about an only child who relishes her calm, quiet life with her single mother, until a noisy unexpected visitor disrupts life in their small condo. Her attachment to their four-year-old guest grows suddenly and without sufficient motivation. This is the first book in the Emma chapter book series. Since Emma wants to be a nature scientist when she grows up, animal facts are tucked into insets periodically throughout the book, where that animal is mentioned.

[Elissa Genry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma is an only child whose life is suddenly flipped upside down by a 3 year old named Anthony. Emma's mom has to watch Anthony while his parents go on a trip to visit his sick grandmother, and she learns what it is like to have a younger brother. As she gets to know Anthony more and spends more time with him, Emma has a perspective shift because she has allowed herself to give him a chance.

[Jessica Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jessica Mitchell, 11
Only Emma
3 stars

First of all, I know this wasn't meant for 11 year olds. I just thought it would be decent..ya know?
But this book belongs in that group of books like the Beverly Clearly books, Clementine, ad Ivy+Bean. Idiotic and cliche.
So now you're probably wondering; Why'd you give it three stars?
1st star= The friendship between Emma and Cynthia was realistic. Fake and childish..
2nd star= I liked the illustrations
3rd star= The annoying qualities of Anthony were realistic.

WHY I DIDN'T GIVE IT THE LAST TWO STARS:

1st: It's cliche. The whole idea of the book.
2nd: Real girls would not 'miss' Anthony. Anthony was an idiotic brat and I would want to pound him into the wall.

And also, it's pretty obvious that an 8 year old DIDN'T write this. If an eight year old girl showed me her journal and it said this, I'd say: 'Did your mom write this for you?'. Eight year olds are idiotic and ridiculous. They would not be using such large vocabulary, as Emma did.

But enough negative things. Let me see if I can scrape out a few good things from the secret and private cavern I call my brain...
Lets see.

Well I liked how Emma's view of her and Cynthia's relationship/friendship was realistic. She cared about HAVING A FRIEND in her new school. Not..CYNTHIA. She wanted a friend. Everyone was like that in one period of time.
That was pretty good. I wonder if Sally Warner has a daughter around that age? However, she was eight years old once, soo...

[Lianna Navasardyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I choose this book because my sister recommended it .Emma is eight years old .when a Anthony moves in Emma gets mad because he is annoying loud and touches all her stuff Emma can wait till he leaves. My favorite quote was "I don’t care. I don’t even like that puzzle." this was my favorite quote because in the store Anthony and Emma fight for the puzzle then when they stop fighting Emma tells him that ,it was kind of funny. I liked author’s point of view because Emma was telling the story and she made it like she had a miserable life. Yes I would recommend this book .I would recommend it to people who have annoying siblings.

[Christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Themes include issues about single parenting, only child situations, interpersonal relationships

Third-grader Emma's peaceful life as an only child is disrupted when she has to temporarily share her tidy bedroom with four-year-old Anthony Scarpetto, a bona fide "pain in the patootie."

The story is cute and more for third/fourth graders than fifth or sixth graders. Story reminds me a lot of my godchildren and nieces. The author’s use of first person present narrative voice helps create a strong sense of Emma's lively personality and her ambivalence about Anthony, as well as her own feelings about being an only child and the ups and downs of an emerging classmate friendship.

[Susan Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute little story. Emma is an only child, so when her mom agrees to take care of a friend's little boy for a week, she is NOT happy. Anthony is 4-years-old, and he gets into her stuff, and makes messes everywhere, and doesn't listen to Emma when she tells him what to do. Emma thinks this is going to be the longest week of her life.... But Anthony actually starts to grow on her. First in a series.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

i know this book looks kiddish but actually it is good i basically got it cause my name is in it!but it was funny and good there is this girl(emma) and she moved to a diffrent place and has this friend (can't rember her name)and then her mom has a friewnd and her son that is 4 (anthony) and emma doesn't like him and he has to stay at her house! and i won't tell the rest! :)

[Trista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute story about a girl and the relationships she has with her mom, best friend, and a preschool boy whom she and her mom wind up babysitting for a week. I liked how she faced some situations that young children may face- divorce, being an only child, worrying her friend will stop being her friend.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book in the realistic fiction for elementary readers. Although the book isn't that old (2005) I did feel like repeated references to a VCR made the book seem a bit dated. IDK if an 8 year old today really knows what a VCR is. But that aside it's a book with an appealing main character and an appealing packege

[Tali Balas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma grew on me as the story moved along and the character became better developed. The friendship between emma and Cynthia was realistic as was her reaction to suddenly having a "brother" around. Her change of heart and her thoughts about her mother both came off as forced. Overall a perfectly fine choice for 2nd-3rd graders.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight! Honest & real to life. Emma is about as cute as she can be and she is learning all about life in a great way. Super choice for young readers and highly recommended as a read-to story. Hard to beat as a contemporary read for this age group.

[Daniella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explains alot if you dont have any brothers or sisters.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book.
If you like fantasy books you will love this one like me!

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story about an eight-year-old girl who is an only child, then has to learn to live with a little boy they are babysitting for a week.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. I wouldn't mind seeing more by Sally Warner

[Marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

One theme in Only Emma teaches children that they will have to make adjustments in their lives. A second theme teaches sharing, not only possessions, but your heart as well.