Jimmy Lee Did It by Pat Cummings

by Pat Cummings

Artie keeps telling his sister that the messes all over the house are the work of the elusive Jimmy Lee

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Toni H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite childhood book, top of my recommendation list for young readers. Teaches kids about honesty in a non typical way

[Renee Parrish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jimmy Lee Did It (1985) by Pat Cummings, Pictures by Pat Cummings, Fiction.

This realistic fiction book for children is very "witty" and humorous. Basically, it is a story of two siblings with the brother being older than the sister. A classic "big brother" teasing and eluding his sister to believe that "Jimmy Lee" is to blame for all of the mischievous pranks, messes, etc. The problem is that the little sister, Angel, has never seen this "Jimmy Lee," but he always seems to be working his pranks when "Artie," the older brother is around. Angel sets up a few traps in hopes of catching "Jimmy Lee" in the act.
The illustrations are very creative, colorful and detailed. She uses watercolors and framed pictures with text directly under the illustrations. Some of the pictures are "comic book" style, which adds another level of interest and fun for young readers. Artie also seems to have a sneaky grin on his face, making the reader wonder what he's really up to. As the story goes along with the pictures clearly reflecting the text, and detailed emotion on characters' faces, the curiosity in the reader builds page by page.
In conclusion, I would recommend this story for teachers to read in class or for parents to read at home, and to young readers who are just learning to read on their own. My class really enjoyed it, and we actually had decent conversations about "who really did it?" They also paid close attention to details in the pictures (such as Artie's silly smirks), which impressed me, because they used those tactics to narrow down who the guilty person really was. Many of them could relate to Angel and Artie, as they had either older or younger siblings at home.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book demonstrates honesty and doing what's right when someone else isn't. Readers may be able to relate and explore issues with yelling on a friend or someone you know. I recommend this for 3rd -5th grades.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to teach students about being a leader and honesty. It also has a lot of rhyming words that the students can identify.

[Candice Call · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be used in a classroom to help teach that lying is not okay and that honesty is really the best policy.

[Tiffanni Dean]

This book can be used fo rhyming word lessons and solving problems or mysteries.