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Gooney Bird Greene #2
Gooney Bird and the Room Mother
Gooney Bird Greene knows exactly where she likes to “right smack in the middle of everything.” Sure enough, her colorful fashion sense, exuberant personality, and “absolutely true” stories land her at the center of attention most of the time, but as Mrs. Pidgeon’s second grade class prepares for their Thanksgiving pageant, the lead role of Squanto is still up for grabs. And so is the role of Room Mother, but with each of the children’s parents already overloaded, there are no volunteers to bring cupcakes to their play. So Gooney Bird promises to find one—in exchange for the lead. There’s just one the person she convinces to be Room Mother insists on remaining incognito. As the class struggles to decorate the mural, make costumes, and learn their songs for the play, the suspense will the pageant be a success? And who is their mysterious Room Mother?Two-time Newbery Award–winning author Lois Lowry has once again captured the eager energy of an elementary school classroom and the hilarious antics and anecdotes of its students, especially those of the irrepressible Gooney Bird Greene herself. In her second literary appearance, Gooney Bird is back with more “absolutely true” stories to tell, more tips for her fellow aspiring storytellers, and a few challenging vocabulary words to share, too.
82 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
68 people are currently reading
293 people want to read
About the author
Lois Lowry
143 books22.9k followersTaken from Lowry's website:
"I’ve always felt that I was fortunate to have been born the middle child of three. My older sister, Helen, was very much like our mother: gentle, family-oriented, eager to please. Little brother Jon was the only boy and had interests that he shared with Dad; together they were always working on electric trains and erector sets; and later, when Jon was older, they always seemed to have their heads under the raised hood of a car. That left me in-between, and exactly where I wanted most to be: on my own. I was a solitary child who lived in the world of books and my own vivid imagination.
Because my father was a career military officer - an Army dentist - I lived all over the world. I was born in Hawaii, moved from there to New York, spent the years of World War II in my mother’s hometown: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and from there went to Tokyo when I was eleven. High school was back in New York City, but by the time I went to college (Brown University in Rhode Island), my family was living in Washington, D.C.
I married young. I had just turned nineteen - just finished my sophomore year in college - when I married a Naval officer and continued the odyssey that military life requires. California. Connecticut (a daughter born there). Florida (a son). South Carolina. Finally Cambridge, Massachusetts, when my husband left the service and entered Harvard Law School (another daughter; another son) and then to Maine - by now with four children under the age of five in tow. My children grew up in Maine. So did I. I returned to college at the University of Southern Maine, got my degree, went to graduate school, and finally began to write professionally, the thing I had dreamed of doing since those childhood years when I had endlessly scribbled stories and poems in notebooks.
After my marriage ended in 1977, when I was forty, I settled into the life I have lived ever since. Today I am back in Cambridge, Massachusetts, living and writing in a house dominated by a very shaggy Tibetan Terrier named Bandit. For a change of scenery Martin and I spend time in Maine, where we have an old (it was built in 1768!) farmhouse on top of a hill. In Maine I garden, feed birds, entertain friends, and read...
My books have varied in content and style. Yet it seems that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections. A Summer to Die, my first book, was a highly fictionalized retelling of the early death of my sister, and of the effect of such a loss on a family. Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era, tells the same story: that of the role that we humans play in the lives of our fellow beings.
The Giver - and Gathering Blue, and the newest in the trilogy: Messenger - take place against the background of very different cultures and times. Though all three are broader in scope than my earlier books, they nonetheless speak to the same concern: the vital need of people to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.
My older son was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. His death in the cockpit of a warplane tore away a piece of my world. But it left me, too, with a wish to honor him by joining the many others trying to find a way to end conflict on this very fragile earth.
I am a grandmother now. For my own grandchildren - and for all those of their generation - I try, through writing, to convey my passionate awareness that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another."
"I’ve always felt that I was fortunate to have been born the middle child of three. My older sister, Helen, was very much like our mother: gentle, family-oriented, eager to please. Little brother Jon was the only boy and had interests that he shared with Dad; together they were always working on electric trains and erector sets; and later, when Jon was older, they always seemed to have their heads under the raised hood of a car. That left me in-between, and exactly where I wanted most to be: on my own. I was a solitary child who lived in the world of books and my own vivid imagination.
Because my father was a career military officer - an Army dentist - I lived all over the world. I was born in Hawaii, moved from there to New York, spent the years of World War II in my mother’s hometown: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and from there went to Tokyo when I was eleven. High school was back in New York City, but by the time I went to college (Brown University in Rhode Island), my family was living in Washington, D.C.
I married young. I had just turned nineteen - just finished my sophomore year in college - when I married a Naval officer and continued the odyssey that military life requires. California. Connecticut (a daughter born there). Florida (a son). South Carolina. Finally Cambridge, Massachusetts, when my husband left the service and entered Harvard Law School (another daughter; another son) and then to Maine - by now with four children under the age of five in tow. My children grew up in Maine. So did I. I returned to college at the University of Southern Maine, got my degree, went to graduate school, and finally began to write professionally, the thing I had dreamed of doing since those childhood years when I had endlessly scribbled stories and poems in notebooks.
After my marriage ended in 1977, when I was forty, I settled into the life I have lived ever since. Today I am back in Cambridge, Massachusetts, living and writing in a house dominated by a very shaggy Tibetan Terrier named Bandit. For a change of scenery Martin and I spend time in Maine, where we have an old (it was built in 1768!) farmhouse on top of a hill. In Maine I garden, feed birds, entertain friends, and read...
My books have varied in content and style. Yet it seems that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections. A Summer to Die, my first book, was a highly fictionalized retelling of the early death of my sister, and of the effect of such a loss on a family. Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era, tells the same story: that of the role that we humans play in the lives of our fellow beings.
The Giver - and Gathering Blue, and the newest in the trilogy: Messenger - take place against the background of very different cultures and times. Though all three are broader in scope than my earlier books, they nonetheless speak to the same concern: the vital need of people to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.
My older son was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. His death in the cockpit of a warplane tore away a piece of my world. But it left me, too, with a wish to honor him by joining the many others trying to find a way to end conflict on this very fragile earth.
I am a grandmother now. For my own grandchildren - and for all those of their generation - I try, through writing, to convey my passionate awareness that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
October 13, 2016
OMG... So nice and lovely..
I got tears at the end of the book.. I loved it so so so much.
What is so funny and embarrassing that I had to use google translate for some words. :)
I got tears at the end of the book.. I loved it so so so much.
What is so funny and embarrassing that I had to use google translate for some words. :)
November 17, 2024
I like Gooney Bird Greene for her expansive vocabulary, unique fashion sense, and ability to spin a yarn. This outing has her trying to recruit a classroom parent for her second grad class in order to win a contest for the main role of Squanto in the Thanksgiving pageant. She has a terrific solution that is a fair-play mystery and gives her classmates lots of opportunities to break out their dictionaries in the process.
Fun.
Fun.
October 21, 2009
In Mrs. Pidgeon's second grade class, the Thanksgiving pageant will be coming up shortly. The class does not have a room mother. Each student has a reason for why their mother is unable to help out. The principal is becoming very impatient. Gooney Bird Greene comes to the rescue as she is once again right smack in the middle of everything!
It's a mystery as to who the room mother will be, but Gooney Bird is on the search and has an idea. Will the room mother arrive in time for the Thanksgiving day pageant?
She sure does, and it's Mrs. Pigeon's mother! Tears are shed, and the students are excited and Gooney Bird once again makes the classroom of students smile.
This book was great! I had read Gooney Bird Greene before but I never had the opportunity to read this one. I think that when I read Gooney Bird to my students, I will read this book afterwards. My students always love listening to Gooney Bird Greene. I think there is another Gooney Bird book and I would be interested in reading that one as well.
It's a mystery as to who the room mother will be, but Gooney Bird is on the search and has an idea. Will the room mother arrive in time for the Thanksgiving day pageant?
She sure does, and it's Mrs. Pigeon's mother! Tears are shed, and the students are excited and Gooney Bird once again makes the classroom of students smile.
This book was great! I had read Gooney Bird Greene before but I never had the opportunity to read this one. I think that when I read Gooney Bird to my students, I will read this book afterwards. My students always love listening to Gooney Bird Greene. I think there is another Gooney Bird book and I would be interested in reading that one as well.
September 6, 2010
My girls really enjoy Gooney Bird Greene because she's so entertaining. I enjoy her because she teaches English skills. In this one, she teaches the importance of learning how to use a dictionary and Mrs. Pigeon's class learns some new vocabulary words. I loved the surprise ending!
January 23, 2021
Second grade class read aloud!! My students LOVE Gooney Bird Greene. It’s great so see them so excited about reading, writing and word study!!
January 10, 2022
Great book teaching new words to kids. Wonderful as an audio book. Kids' favorite part was when they found out who the room mother was!
January 14, 2018
Let me start this review by saying a couple of things: I love Lois Lowry. She has long been one of my favorite children's authors, from the time that I was a kid myself falling in love with THE GIVER and the Anastasia books and laughing until I cried at the Sam series. I read NUMBER THE STARS over and over again as a preteen. In college, I went to see Lois Lowry speak and was so impressed buy her as a human, as well as by her work. As far as I'm concerned, Lois Lowry is one of the founding mothers of modern children's literature, and has a depth and breadth to her body of work that few authors can boast.
I also want to start by saying that it has genuinely been years since I have given a book one star and left a scathing review. It's something that I categorically don't do anymore, as an author myself. But when we finish this book last night, I was so angry, that I felt like it was a rare moment to break my rule.
Earlier this month, we read the first Gooney Bird book with Kate at bedtime, and it was so charming and enjoyable to all three of us that I immediately put the second and third book on hold at the library. From the beginning of GOONEY BIRD AND THE ROOM MOTHER, I was a little bit nervous, as the story centers on a second grade Thanksgiving pageant and definitely offers a fairly sanitized version of history. For the most part, though, it didn't get very far into the history of Thanksgiving, and the part that I felt most uncomfortable with was the repeated references to children dressing up like Native Americans with feathered headbands.
Toward the end of the book, though, this story went from uncomfortable territory to downright inappropriate. During the performance of the Thanksgiving pageant, the class tells the story of Squanto/Tisquantum. The story mostly centers on what a "very, very helpful guy" Squanto was, and how much he loves to help British settlers of North America. That was uncomfortable enough, but then the story took a detour into discussing how Squanto had to come to learn English. Not only does the story make only brief references to slavery and the fact that the rest of his tribe was wiped out, it outright states that Squanto went to England with his dear friends, the English settlers, and that he came back because he grew bored of British society. It does briefly reference the fact that he was forcibly taken to Spain and sold as a slave, but the general narrative is that Squanto, because he was such a "very helpful guy," traveled to most of the places he visited and associated with most of the people he associated with purely by choice.
In general, and as much as I loved the first book and plan to read the last, this particular Gooney Bird episode is one I feel like I categorically can't recommend. I can't even imagine how hurtful reading this book would be to an indigenous person.
I also want to start by saying that it has genuinely been years since I have given a book one star and left a scathing review. It's something that I categorically don't do anymore, as an author myself. But when we finish this book last night, I was so angry, that I felt like it was a rare moment to break my rule.
Earlier this month, we read the first Gooney Bird book with Kate at bedtime, and it was so charming and enjoyable to all three of us that I immediately put the second and third book on hold at the library. From the beginning of GOONEY BIRD AND THE ROOM MOTHER, I was a little bit nervous, as the story centers on a second grade Thanksgiving pageant and definitely offers a fairly sanitized version of history. For the most part, though, it didn't get very far into the history of Thanksgiving, and the part that I felt most uncomfortable with was the repeated references to children dressing up like Native Americans with feathered headbands.
Toward the end of the book, though, this story went from uncomfortable territory to downright inappropriate. During the performance of the Thanksgiving pageant, the class tells the story of Squanto/Tisquantum. The story mostly centers on what a "very, very helpful guy" Squanto was, and how much he loves to help British settlers of North America. That was uncomfortable enough, but then the story took a detour into discussing how Squanto had to come to learn English. Not only does the story make only brief references to slavery and the fact that the rest of his tribe was wiped out, it outright states that Squanto went to England with his dear friends, the English settlers, and that he came back because he grew bored of British society. It does briefly reference the fact that he was forcibly taken to Spain and sold as a slave, but the general narrative is that Squanto, because he was such a "very helpful guy," traveled to most of the places he visited and associated with most of the people he associated with purely by choice.
In general, and as much as I loved the first book and plan to read the last, this particular Gooney Bird episode is one I feel like I categorically can't recommend. I can't even imagine how hurtful reading this book would be to an indigenous person.
April 17, 2015
Gooney Bird and the Room Mother is a transitional reader for children who are past short chapter books, but not ready for full length novels. This story is about a second grade classroom who is preparing for a Thanksgiving celebration. They still do not have a room mother, and so Gooney Bird goes about finding one for the class.
The story is fairly well written. It took me a while to realize that every time a new chapter started, it was a different day. At first I was very confused by the transition in time periods. However, overall it's a good story. The author uses the unique main character to introduce new vocabulary as well. Sadly, I think most second graders-at least in my area- would have difficulty with this book; only truly strong readers could read it.
The cover art is rather lacklustre. It is a picture of Gooney Bird in her strange outfit she wore to the library. If a child was already into the series, I am sure they would pick this up. However, for new readers the cover isn't exactly enticing. There are some pictures throughout the book, though not many. I counted 10, not counting the chapter title pictures. They are simple ink drawings, that communicate what is happening in the text.
I would recommend this to second grade advanced readers. For those not ready to read this, it could be read to the classroom in under a weak. You could also use the vocabulary in the book for extra practice.
The story is fairly well written. It took me a while to realize that every time a new chapter started, it was a different day. At first I was very confused by the transition in time periods. However, overall it's a good story. The author uses the unique main character to introduce new vocabulary as well. Sadly, I think most second graders-at least in my area- would have difficulty with this book; only truly strong readers could read it.
The cover art is rather lacklustre. It is a picture of Gooney Bird in her strange outfit she wore to the library. If a child was already into the series, I am sure they would pick this up. However, for new readers the cover isn't exactly enticing. There are some pictures throughout the book, though not many. I counted 10, not counting the chapter title pictures. They are simple ink drawings, that communicate what is happening in the text.
I would recommend this to second grade advanced readers. For those not ready to read this, it could be read to the classroom in under a weak. You could also use the vocabulary in the book for extra practice.
June 11, 2010
Hi There!
Alright, my message: I love "Gooney Bird and the Room Mother"! Gooney Bird is hilarious. So is her class! I love how Gooney Bird always uses big words, and all the children pull out their dictionaries as the word is being written on the chalkboard, and the definition is given. Gooney Bird is very clever an can pull almost anything off! Gooney Bird always acts like the head of whatever is going on, (and the others follow along with it,) and she does a FABULOUS job doing it. I definitely recommend this book to you. I would have rated this book five stars, but this book is too short.I read it within 2 hours! If the book is going to be, like, one of he BEST books in the world, it MUST be longer! I mean, if the reader is enjoying it, he/she wants it longer, to last until the next Gooney Bird Greene is available! Otherwise, Gooney Bird Greene is now one of my favorite series, (after reading one for the first time! If I didn't just read my first on, that would have been determined months ago!) and I plan to read every book in the series. Lois Lowry is a genius, so now, please let me go so I can become her fan. Thanks for reading this! I hope you love this book just as much as I do! -Vivienne :-)
Alright, my message: I love "Gooney Bird and the Room Mother"! Gooney Bird is hilarious. So is her class! I love how Gooney Bird always uses big words, and all the children pull out their dictionaries as the word is being written on the chalkboard, and the definition is given. Gooney Bird is very clever an can pull almost anything off! Gooney Bird always acts like the head of whatever is going on, (and the others follow along with it,) and she does a FABULOUS job doing it. I definitely recommend this book to you. I would have rated this book five stars, but this book is too short.I read it within 2 hours! If the book is going to be, like, one of he BEST books in the world, it MUST be longer! I mean, if the reader is enjoying it, he/she wants it longer, to last until the next Gooney Bird Greene is available! Otherwise, Gooney Bird Greene is now one of my favorite series, (after reading one for the first time! If I didn't just read my first on, that would have been determined months ago!) and I plan to read every book in the series. Lois Lowry is a genius, so now, please let me go so I can become her fan. Thanks for reading this! I hope you love this book just as much as I do! -Vivienne :-)
July 4, 2008
The second grade class at Watertower Elementary School is putting on a Thanksgiving pageant. Everyone in the class wants to be Squanto, but especially Gooney Bird Greene, because Gooney Bird Greene always wants to be in the middle of everything. The second grade class has a problem, though--they can't find a room mother anywhere and are the only class in the whole school without one. So the teacher makes a deal with the students: whoever can find a room mother for the class will get the role of Squanto. Gooney Bird Greene comes through and gets the role, but the only problem is that the room mother wants to remanin incognito until the performance--so who's the room mother?
Another cute story about this fun little girl. Great teaching tool with lots of hard words and definitions to follow. Lois Lowry has done it again!
Another cute story about this fun little girl. Great teaching tool with lots of hard words and definitions to follow. Lois Lowry has done it again!
January 1, 2011
We've read two books in the Gooney Bird Greene series and we really enjoyed them. We will be borrowing the third book soon and we hope that Lois Lowry writes more.
I love that the story encourages looking up new words in a dictionary and further demonstrates good techniques for telling (or writing) stories. The fact that Gooney Bird took a trip to the library in this story was a plus for me as well. The mystery of the identity of the room mother is interesting and although I knew who it was (I had seen the illustration inadvertently), our girls were surprised and loved the ending.
I love that the story encourages looking up new words in a dictionary and further demonstrates good techniques for telling (or writing) stories. The fact that Gooney Bird took a trip to the library in this story was a plus for me as well. The mystery of the identity of the room mother is interesting and although I knew who it was (I had seen the illustration inadvertently), our girls were surprised and loved the ending.
June 11, 2009
This was a fun story to read. Unfortunately, I saw the last illustration in the story and it spoiled the ending for me! I enjoyed all the spelling word exercises throughout the story. The ending was great—Gooney Bird did a wonderful job saving the pageant from being a “FIASCO”—“A total failure.” Her storytelling, woven with spelling words and definitions was original and expressive. Lois Lowry uses an appropriate style of writing for a transitional book. The typeface is large and easy to read. Illustrations are interspersed throughout the story for visual appeal. The story has a mystery to solve that makes the plot fresh and lively.
December 8, 2014
I decided to read this book based off of the previous book I had read by this author, considering I liked that other book I though I would give this one a try. Last week’s book taught the lesson of being unique and this book teaches kids different vocabulary words, which I think would make a great read aloud book during the Thanksgiving season. This book is about Gooney Bird getting ready to do the pageant of the First Thanksgiving. While getting ready for the play they stumble upon a little problem and that is finding someone to make cupcakes for the play Gooney Bird volunteers to find someone to make cupcakes but only if she gets the lead part in exchange.
June 13, 2014
The irrepressible, loudly dressed second grade wunderkind ooney Bird Greene is back! Today's episode finds her and the class prepping for Turkey Day and everyone's clucking searching for a room mother to make refreshments while the teacher mis-sings Moon River as a Thankgiving song. That is wrong. It's no way to honor Henry Mancini! Buuut...Gooney Bird is as engaging as ever, and even in her odd world, there's still "such a lotta world to see"!
November 29, 2024
Upon Reread: I still really liked this book and love gooney bird! I love Gooney Bird.
In this one there is a competition among her class to find a room mother because nobody wants to do it. Gooney Bird wins because she cajoles someone into it, but the person wants to be incognito until the Thanksgiving program. The prize was to be Squanto in the program and Gooney Bird couldn't be happier to be the center of attention. I loved all the vocab words and I love her confidence and quirkiness!
In this one there is a competition among her class to find a room mother because nobody wants to do it. Gooney Bird wins because she cajoles someone into it, but the person wants to be incognito until the Thanksgiving program. The prize was to be Squanto in the program and Gooney Bird couldn't be happier to be the center of attention. I loved all the vocab words and I love her confidence and quirkiness!
September 15, 2008
If you want your kids to ace the GRE, it's best to start them early. In this book, Gooney Bird gets them off to a good start, teaching great words like "ennui" and "indefatigable". It's a sweet little story, too, though I feel sometimes that Gooney Bird is a bit too awesome and I wish the other kids had a bit more of a chance to shine.
May 11, 2012
Another great book from Lois Lowry in the Gooney Bird Greene series. Mrs Pidgeon offers a plum acting role to whoever finds a Room Mother, as no one has volunteered. Gooney Bird excuses herself to make a phone call, and comes back to announce that she has a Room Mother, called Mrs X. Mrs X's identity is only uncovered at the end of the book, and it is a lovely surprise.
October 20, 2012
I read this with my six year old and we both loved it. Gooney Bird is such a fun character, and we like getting to know a bit more about her classmates in this installment of the series. My favorite thing is how the kids are always looking up new words in the dictionary and enriching their vocabularies. It reminds me of my dear grandmother. :)
Read
September 22, 2011Would love to use for older, reluctant readers but the overall size of the book will probably prevent it. Read only half of it, but find the story and main character appealing. I think this would be a good addition to the school's collection.
April 20, 2012
Gooney Bird loves being the center of attention. I liked how Lois Lowry added new vocabulary words as a way to learn new words. The teacher has a lot of patience with Gooney Bird and the rest of the second grade class.
June 5, 2014
I read this to my 7-year-old daughters. We all enjoyed it and we loved the first Gooney Bird book too. I really liked how Lowry weaved vocabulary into the story. A few of the words the girls were introduced to: cajoled, ennui, and incognito. I highly recommend this book for young readers!
July 5, 2015
gooney bird found a room mother for her second grade class. they did a pageant fur thanksgiving and showed all the words they'd learned. I thought I knew who the incognito room mother was on page 30, but I might have been misreading the picture.
December 1, 2017
My favorite of the 3 books - I actually did NOT see the end coming! But I loved it, loved it, loved it!
January 29, 2009
Great story. Lovable characters!
Creative!
I can't wait for more Gooney Bird stories!
Creative!
I can't wait for more Gooney Bird stories!
October 30, 2010
Just as good if not better than the original. I loved the ending. Not sure if Lucy got it.
April 29, 2011
This is such a favorite of my children. Her mischievous good deeds are a great read aloud.
Themes- helping, being yourself, school pride
Themes- helping, being yourself, school pride
May 15, 2012
reading out loud to the kiddo
February 16, 2013
Another in the Gooney Bird series. In this one the students are preparing for their Thanksgiving celebration and worrying about who will be their room mother. But, Gooney Bird to the rescue.
Want to read
March 22, 2014J
June 3, 2016
Another Gooney Bird installment. When the room mother was revealed I teared up.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews