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Penelope Perfect #1
Project Best Friend
Penelope Kingston wants to be perfect. And most of the time she is good, sensible and calm. But nobody is perfect, and sometimes Penelope is bossy, angry and frustrated. It's like – and this is very weird – there are two Penelopes inside her. She is never quite sure who is going to be stronger on any given day.
There's one part of Penelope's life that is definitely not perfect: she doesn't have a best friend. It was absolutely time that Penelope got a best friend of her own. It makes Penelope very anxious whenever they have to get into pairs at school. Everyone knows that being partners with the teacher means you are the odd one out.
Penelope hopes that the new girl at school might be the one. But it's not easy finding a best friend, and it's not easy trying to be perfect. Sometimes, the best idea is to forget to try!
There's one part of Penelope's life that is definitely not perfect: she doesn't have a best friend. It was absolutely time that Penelope got a best friend of her own. It makes Penelope very anxious whenever they have to get into pairs at school. Everyone knows that being partners with the teacher means you are the odd one out.
Penelope hopes that the new girl at school might be the one. But it's not easy finding a best friend, and it's not easy trying to be perfect. Sometimes, the best idea is to forget to try!
134 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2015
8 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Chrissie Perry
54 books42 followersChrissie was born in 1964, in Melbourne. She grew up, mainly in Doncaster and is one of five daughters. She is number four.
Chrissie is the author of over thirty books for Children and Young Adults, including thirteen books in the popular Go Girl series (under Chrissie Perry) and the award winning Whisper.
She lives in inner city Melbourne with her husband, three children who are stubbornly refusing to stay young and an opinionated Maltese Shitzu called Gidget.
Chrissie is the author of over thirty books for Children and Young Adults, including thirteen books in the popular Go Girl series (under Chrissie Perry) and the award winning Whisper.
She lives in inner city Melbourne with her husband, three children who are stubbornly refusing to stay young and an opinionated Maltese Shitzu called Gidget.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 12, 2017
Project Best Friend introduces us to Penelope Kingston, a perfectionist who is on a quest to find a new best friend. She's sure the new girl, Brittany O'Brien ("Bob" for short!), is destined to be her BFF. Unfortunately, Bob's first day doesn't quite go as planned. You'll fall in love with little Penelope right away, plus it has a great message about how life rarely goes as planned.
October 10, 2020
Rosanne a trouvé ça correct, sans plus.
April 3, 2022
i think i read this in primary before but it’s so cute i love penelope
January 4, 2018
This book is not quite what it sounds like from the description. Yes, Penelope does struggle with trying to be "perfect," and with not being sure when she'll be good Penelope or angry Penelope. But that's more of a background characteristic than an actual part of the plot. The plot is what you'd expect from the title--Penelope tries to get a best friend.
Strengths:
Penelope is a little on the anxious side, but she has techniques she uses to help herself calm down . That's an important skill, and a lot of kids could benefit from it being highlighted that way.
Penelope doesn't just try to be perfect for the sake of perfection. She's clearly a good person who tries to do the right thing. For kids reading this with their parents, this could be a great jumping off point to discuss the difference between being good in a compassionate sense and being good in a perfectionist sense.
Individuality is celebrated--the idea that everyone is different and should be free to be who they are is one of the central lessons, and what's more, it's done organically within the story, rather than being tacked on as a preachy message for the reader (a common problem with kid's books).
The issue of caring more about who you imagine a person to be than who they actually are is addressed (), which is another super important lesson, and one you don't see quite as often at this level.
The fact that Penelope is a nice touch, and could help kids realize they could be overlooking important details when worrying about their problems .
Weaknesses:
Despite addressing some important issues in a decent way, this book feels pretty insubstantial. I just finished it a couple days ago, and I barely remember it. I can't say whether the same would be true for a child, but I can say that I read another children's book the day before (Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire) and I remember almost everything about it. That book had a strong, distinct voice and personality; this one, not so much. Penelope didn't really come alive for me. This may not be the case for a kid (i.e. the actual target audience), but I'd say this book is more suited to the kind of kid who devours books, rather than the kind who only reads a select few.
The adults are kind of insignificant. They're there, and they do stuff, but they remind me of Nanny from Muppet Babies--I feel like I never saw their face, so to speak, like they were just a vague presence in the children's lives.
I'm not sure I've ever found a satisfying portrayal of bullying, or responding to bullies, in fiction, and this is no exception. Given the age group, it's definitely bullying lite, but the insults felt a little unrealistic (though far from the worst I've read), and the response too simple. But it's a pretty standard portrayal (you know, ), so it hardly warrants mentioning.
In short, it's...okay. For a kid who reads a lot, it's a good enough book for them to sprint through before moving on to the next, and there are some positive lessons for them to absorb while doing so, but I don't think there's anything here to strike the interest of reluctant readers.
Strengths:
Penelope is a little on the anxious side, but she has techniques she uses to help herself calm down . That's an important skill, and a lot of kids could benefit from it being highlighted that way.
Penelope doesn't just try to be perfect for the sake of perfection. She's clearly a good person who tries to do the right thing. For kids reading this with their parents, this could be a great jumping off point to discuss the difference between being good in a compassionate sense and being good in a perfectionist sense.
Individuality is celebrated--the idea that everyone is different and should be free to be who they are is one of the central lessons, and what's more, it's done organically within the story, rather than being tacked on as a preachy message for the reader (a common problem with kid's books).
The issue of caring more about who you imagine a person to be than who they actually are is addressed (), which is another super important lesson, and one you don't see quite as often at this level.
The fact that Penelope is a nice touch, and could help kids realize they could be overlooking important details when worrying about their problems .
Weaknesses:
Despite addressing some important issues in a decent way, this book feels pretty insubstantial. I just finished it a couple days ago, and I barely remember it. I can't say whether the same would be true for a child, but I can say that I read another children's book the day before (Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire) and I remember almost everything about it. That book had a strong, distinct voice and personality; this one, not so much. Penelope didn't really come alive for me. This may not be the case for a kid (i.e. the actual target audience), but I'd say this book is more suited to the kind of kid who devours books, rather than the kind who only reads a select few.
The adults are kind of insignificant. They're there, and they do stuff, but they remind me of Nanny from Muppet Babies--I feel like I never saw their face, so to speak, like they were just a vague presence in the children's lives.
I'm not sure I've ever found a satisfying portrayal of bullying, or responding to bullies, in fiction, and this is no exception. Given the age group, it's definitely bullying lite, but the insults felt a little unrealistic (though far from the worst I've read), and the response too simple. But it's a pretty standard portrayal (you know, ), so it hardly warrants mentioning.
In short, it's...okay. For a kid who reads a lot, it's a good enough book for them to sprint through before moving on to the next, and there are some positive lessons for them to absorb while doing so, but I don't think there's anything here to strike the interest of reluctant readers.
October 7, 2016
Cute start to the Penelope Perfect series, which has been published previously outside of the US. Penelope is an interesting character; a perfectionist next to characters like Dory Fantasmagory and Judy Moody.
February 2, 2016
A Short, Cute, Entertaining read :)
Sometimes, you've just got to go with the flow ;)
Sometimes, you've just got to go with the flow ;)
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April 28, 2017Cute
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews