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Just Grace #12
Just Grace Gets Crafty: A Friendship Adventure About Creative Problem-Solving for Children (Ages 6-9)
Grace has lots of new and exciting things to share in the latest addition to the Just Grace series! There's a new crossing guard in town named Marie who needs a bit of help making friends, a fun substitute teacher for Miss Lois, and most exciting, Grace and Mimi are going to have their own table at the craft fair! They are going to make lots of crafts to sell—and hopefully save up enough money to go to the county fair. There is one small problem, though—Mimi is a sewing natural, but when it comes to crafting, Grace doesn't know what to make. Leave it to Grace to come up with a great idea for the fair that is a big success, and even helps the new crossing guard find a friend.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
9 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 20, 2018
I hate to see this series end! This one was such a treat. Mimi and Just Grace get to host their own table at Robert's school craft fair and Grace decides to use that gathering as an opportunity to find a friend for their new crossing guard Marie. You will love watching Grace juggle her friendship with Mimi while using her super empathy powers to help Marie.
December 13, 2017
2014, Realistic fiction, novel. This is the first time I've read anything in this series, but I was able to pick this book up and understand despite my unawareness with characters or Grace herself. Reminds me of a modern day Junie B. Jones in the sense that this is a humorous and very easy and engaging read. Illustrations included as Grace tries to sell her crafts and save the day. Could see young, girly readers enjoying this book just like I did! Great to include on your shelf for independent reading.
February 21, 2019
This is an excellent book. Everyone should read it, especially Anna and Marie. Anna is a real person. Marie is not, but they can become friends. this book can be read by a 7 years old girl and an almost 50 years old daddy. We really recommend to mommy and paul to read it. Seriously. We gave it four stars because only Peppi (not Pippi) and The Wizzard of Oz and La Boîte à Joujoux gets five stars. The Seven Pillars of Wisdom is my next book.
November 27, 2022
Cute book where Grace and Mimi focus on making a craft table for a fundraiser and getting to know their new crossing guard. Also another plot line about creating a shrinky dink character to carry with them and write a story from their point of view.
January 10, 2017
I liked this book because I *really* like to do crafts. And I'm very good at them! This story was amazing.
Read
June 8, 2022Similar to all the others, but Brooke is loving the series.
June 29, 2014
Love this series, and this was a very cute addition. More complete review to come.
Full review:
I've read and enjoyed every single one of the Just Grace books. You'd think the concept would get stale after a while, but this one doesn't. Harper does an excellent job of finding new, authentic areas of the psyche of a nine-year-old third grader. My daughter has grown up with these books too, and although she's now older than Grace, she still enjoys them immensely was well. I've found middle grade fiction to be a surprisingly rich genre, but Harper seems especially in tune with the way a child's mind works at this age, and Grace resonates as a very real, flawed, but lovable character. Some spoilers to follow.
This time around, Grace's friend Mimi persuades her to band together and make things for a table at the craft fair. Lured by the promise of money to be made, Grace agrees, but finds out she's in for a bigger job than she'd anticipated. Meanwhile, a new crossing guard has moved to town, and she seems lonely, so Grace's empathy power leads her to try to contrive ways to find friends for her.
One of the things that's consistently great about this series is the way the author portrays the trials and tribulations of elementary school without belitting them. I smile knowingly while reading about them, but all the while I know how monumental they are to Grace and how seriously she takes them, and the books take them very seriously as well. In this case, Grace's class gets a very fun substitute teacher while their regular teacher is away on a conference, and Grace is faced with a project that proves a creative challenge to her. I love how the book deals with Grace's feelings of envy about another student's talent, and how Grace has to challenge herself to come up with an interesting idea for her pocket pal. The book is a nice meditation on the challenges of thinking creatively.
Grace's empathy power is another aspect of the series that I love. It's an excellent message for children without coming across as preachy. Finding friends for her new crossing guard isn't as easy as Grace imagines, and she finds herself becoming frustrated with the challenge, but then she arrives at an innovative, excellent solution. I loved the way Grace thought outside of the box and went out of her way to try to do something nice for another person. Even though the outcome isn't quite what Grace expected, she's able to see that things worked out well in the end, and that she did something that touched another person without that person even being aware of it. This book has such a nice message about the intrinsic rewards of generosity.
There's also a great underlying theme about taking responsibility. Grace initially thinks making things for the craft fair will be all kinds of fun, but then she realizes how hard the work is, and how time-consuming. Still, she doesn't cut corners and does her best to use her talents to make nice things people will want to buy, and she ties this in with her larger plans for finding friends for her new crossing guard. I loved the description of her creativity and her hard work, and it was satisfying to see it pay off for her in the end.
I'm hoping for and looking forward to the next installment of the series. These books are so funny and touching, and Harper has such a fantastic way of exploring how Grace navigates her world, learning in the process. This is, hands down, one of my favorite middle grade series and has been for a long time.
Full review:
I've read and enjoyed every single one of the Just Grace books. You'd think the concept would get stale after a while, but this one doesn't. Harper does an excellent job of finding new, authentic areas of the psyche of a nine-year-old third grader. My daughter has grown up with these books too, and although she's now older than Grace, she still enjoys them immensely was well. I've found middle grade fiction to be a surprisingly rich genre, but Harper seems especially in tune with the way a child's mind works at this age, and Grace resonates as a very real, flawed, but lovable character. Some spoilers to follow.
This time around, Grace's friend Mimi persuades her to band together and make things for a table at the craft fair. Lured by the promise of money to be made, Grace agrees, but finds out she's in for a bigger job than she'd anticipated. Meanwhile, a new crossing guard has moved to town, and she seems lonely, so Grace's empathy power leads her to try to contrive ways to find friends for her.
One of the things that's consistently great about this series is the way the author portrays the trials and tribulations of elementary school without belitting them. I smile knowingly while reading about them, but all the while I know how monumental they are to Grace and how seriously she takes them, and the books take them very seriously as well. In this case, Grace's class gets a very fun substitute teacher while their regular teacher is away on a conference, and Grace is faced with a project that proves a creative challenge to her. I love how the book deals with Grace's feelings of envy about another student's talent, and how Grace has to challenge herself to come up with an interesting idea for her pocket pal. The book is a nice meditation on the challenges of thinking creatively.
Grace's empathy power is another aspect of the series that I love. It's an excellent message for children without coming across as preachy. Finding friends for her new crossing guard isn't as easy as Grace imagines, and she finds herself becoming frustrated with the challenge, but then she arrives at an innovative, excellent solution. I loved the way Grace thought outside of the box and went out of her way to try to do something nice for another person. Even though the outcome isn't quite what Grace expected, she's able to see that things worked out well in the end, and that she did something that touched another person without that person even being aware of it. This book has such a nice message about the intrinsic rewards of generosity.
There's also a great underlying theme about taking responsibility. Grace initially thinks making things for the craft fair will be all kinds of fun, but then she realizes how hard the work is, and how time-consuming. Still, she doesn't cut corners and does her best to use her talents to make nice things people will want to buy, and she ties this in with her larger plans for finding friends for her new crossing guard. I loved the description of her creativity and her hard work, and it was satisfying to see it pay off for her in the end.
I'm hoping for and looking forward to the next installment of the series. These books are so funny and touching, and Harper has such a fantastic way of exploring how Grace navigates her world, learning in the process. This is, hands down, one of my favorite middle grade series and has been for a long time.
September 8, 2014
Meet ordinary Grace Stewart.
In the first book of the series, she tries to distinguish herself from the other Graces in her class. She gets her wish, but everything takes a turn for the worse, and now she’s called “Just Grace.”
This time in Charise Mericle Harper’s twelfth book, Just Grace and her closest friend Mimi join the craft fair to raise money so they can go to the County Fair. But there’s one problem, Mimi is a craft sewing genius, while Just Grace… isn’t so much.
Even though Grace has an imaginative, creative mind can she tackle this task that gets thrown at her? Witness Just Grace conquer her struggles as you read along in this newest addition to the series.
Rated 3.5/5 stars
In the first book of the series, she tries to distinguish herself from the other Graces in her class. She gets her wish, but everything takes a turn for the worse, and now she’s called “Just Grace.”
This time in Charise Mericle Harper’s twelfth book, Just Grace and her closest friend Mimi join the craft fair to raise money so they can go to the County Fair. But there’s one problem, Mimi is a craft sewing genius, while Just Grace… isn’t so much.
Even though Grace has an imaginative, creative mind can she tackle this task that gets thrown at her? Witness Just Grace conquer her struggles as you read along in this newest addition to the series.
Rated 3.5/5 stars
June 6, 2017
This is the 12th book in the 'Just Grace' series. The sprinkling of graphic/comic elements add humor and will appeal to middle grade readers. Grace perseveres through the difficult work of creating crafts for a school fundraiser and uses this as an opportunity to use her 'empathy superpower' to find a friend for the new crossing guard in town.
Themes: classroom personalities (understanding difficult classmates), substitute teacher, school projects, accountability to a best friend and persevering with a difficult task (setting a goal and creating a plan, prioritizing, time management and the need for breaks when working on a large project), empathy and service to others, encouraging writing, authentic example of a graphic web used to brainstorm and plan, and creating crafts.
Themes: classroom personalities (understanding difficult classmates), substitute teacher, school projects, accountability to a best friend and persevering with a difficult task (setting a goal and creating a plan, prioritizing, time management and the need for breaks when working on a large project), empathy and service to others, encouraging writing, authentic example of a graphic web used to brainstorm and plan, and creating crafts.
January 21, 2015
In this installment of the “Just Grace” series, Grace and Mimi have lots of projects going on. There are crafts to make for a craft fair at Robert’s school, a fun writing project with Miss Lois’ temporary sub, and Grace’s mission of finding a friend for the new school crossing guard. Grace and Mimi manage it all including a few bumps in their friendship. Grace discovers the give and take of friendship and that not all plans are workable. The familiar characters, family interactions and school experiences make this a relatable story for intermediate readers. Grace’s first-person narration, paired with her cartoon line drawings, will keep readers engaged and amused. Order if you have Grace fans in your library.
March 14, 2015
Harper continues her popular Just Grace series. Again Grace and friend Mimi solve the problem of the day—helping a lonely crossing guar find friends.
Early chapter book readers will attach to these characters and relate to her friendship woes. At times Grace speaks reflectively, directly to the reader and tells her feelings about what is happening. Good description of the class project including a spider graph, gives readers a sense of developing a character and doing pre-writing organizing. Crafts are described in detail. I recommend this book for 3-5 grade girls.
This book was provided by the publisher for professional review to SWON libraries.
Early chapter book readers will attach to these characters and relate to her friendship woes. At times Grace speaks reflectively, directly to the reader and tells her feelings about what is happening. Good description of the class project including a spider graph, gives readers a sense of developing a character and doing pre-writing organizing. Crafts are described in detail. I recommend this book for 3-5 grade girls.
This book was provided by the publisher for professional review to SWON libraries.
October 28, 2014
Book 12 in the series. In this entry in the series, Mimi and Grace are making crafts for their own table at the local craft fair. They get half the money they make and they have big plans for that money. Unfortunately, Grace is not very crafty--that's Mimi's specialty. Grace is preoccupied with other things. A new crossing guard in need of friends, a substitute teacher with an exciting project--just about anything but crafts. But our Grace manages to pull it together, create terrific crafts and solve all the other issues on her mind as well. Love this series.
May 26, 2014
I got this book as an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) at a reading conference. I have been trying to find good literature for my nieces since I am only familiar with YA books. This book was rather charming and cute. It is marked as being for ages 6-9 and my niece is quite similar to the main character. She has a huge heart & wants to help/ be friends with everyone.
April 22, 2016
My favorite part of this story is the part when Grace finds a friend for the new crossing guard and the friend is Grace's teacher, Miss Lois. I also like the part when Mimi and Grace are making crafts for the crafting fair at Mimi's little brother's school. Mimi's little brother's name is Robert.
Want to read
December 31, 2014Top Ten Crafts and Gardening Books for Youth 2014 (Booklist)
January 19, 2015
Sweet story. Easy to read and likeable. Hope kids enjoy it!
February 15, 2016
Still don't like the Just Grace books.
February 28, 2016
Solid addition in a cute series.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews