The Blabber Report

by True Kelley

Blabber Mouse loves to talk. But sitting still and finishing projects? He’s not so good at that. One day Blabber’s teacher gives the class a scary assignment: oral book reports. Yikes! All of the mice settle down to work. All of them, that is, except Blabber. Blabber’s busy chatting with JoJo. Or looking out the window. Uh-oh, now he’s searching for his long-lost notes! As Oral Report Day approaches, the lovable little mouse gets more and more nervous. Will he ever figure out how to settle down and turn his talent for talking into a great report?

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 5, 2007

Reviews

[Merri Platt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about a little mouse named Blabber. As you can tell by his name, he likes to talk and he can talk for hours. He has no problem talking about all sorts of things. One day as he is doing his school work, the teacher gives the dreaded assignment of an oral book report. Most of the students have a problem giving an oral report because they get nervous speaking in front of their classmates. The other part of the assignment is that if everybody gives an oral report, the teacher would treat the class to a cheese cookie party. Blabber's friends have a hard time coming up with a book to read except for the smart mouse who decides to do her report on an encyclopedia. As the day draws closer, all of the class is dreaded giving their reports. Blabber didn't have a book until the day before and he decides to do his report on a favorite book of his about dinosaurs. The day arrives and the smart mouse gets up and gives her perfect report, then the teacher calls Blabber up to give his report. He stammers and gets so nervous that he couldn't get through his report. He sits down feeling bad because the class won't get their party. As all the other students give their reports, Blabber feels even worse. At the end of the class period, the teacher calls Blabber up to give his report and classmates help him get through his report by holding up signs with questions on them. All he has to do is answer the questions which he does and delivers a wonderful report. At the end, the teacher throws the party which they all enjoy.
I enjoyed this book a lot. The dialogue was easy to read and it was so interesting. I also loved the illustrations because again they followed the text pretty closely and was very colorful. The pictures were also very active. Lots of activities were going on in the pictures and it showed school as it really is except with mice as the subjects. I think this should be read by all teachers because it teaches children that all children hate giving oral reports and they get scared but if you help one another, you can give a great report. I know that as a child, I hated getting in front of people to give a report but I am slowly getting better at it.

[S Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelley, T. (2006). The Blabber Report. New York: Dutton Children’s Books.

Starred review School Library Journal 2007.

Picture Book Soak

This book is about a very talkative little mouse that seems to develop a bit of stage fright when his teacher assigns the class an oral book report. Blabber mouse goes through many emotions as struggles to do well and not let his classmates down. He overcomes his fears with preparation, teamwork, learning strategies, and perseverance. This book is loaded with rich topics that can be used in the classrooms across different content areas in grades k-3. It would make an excellent read during reading circle.

[Jean D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful read to help students understand stage-fright, anxiety and glossophoboia (the fear of public speaking), specifically how it may take a little help from your friends to get through a public ordeal. The students identified GREATLY with this read. I challenged my older kids (who thought talking in front of an audience was EASY) to immediately give a 5 minute book report on The Blabber Report! Let's just say that they had a healthy dose of humble pie! True Kelley

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blabber the mouse loves to talk, but when his teacher assigns an oral book report, he freezes up. With the help of his classmates, he pulls it off - tackling it " bit by bit".
This is a simple story, but would be really useful to use in preparing children for presentations. It clearly shows the importance of preparation ( his attempt to wing it flopped!) and breaking down a task into manageable parts.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It talks about common things that happen in a class and in this case doing a presentation in front of a class. It also deals with overcoming your fear, helping others/community building in a class, and what to do when doing a presentation!

I am soo going to try and buy this for the class and use for teaching!

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blabber, the mouse, has a book report. He's fine with helping everyone else in his class prepare for their report, but just can't seem to get going with his own. He has stage fright the first time he tries to give it, but pulls through in the end with practice and help from his friends.

Cartoony illustrations.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can relate to this book because, I too, am a blabber mouth and I love sticky notes, so I totally liked that part too! I thought the book taught a good lesson about facing fears and helping others.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story about fear of public speaking, friendship, and support.