School Days

The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon

by Ellen L. Buikema, Elizabeth Engel (Illustrations)

Charlie Chameleon and his friends are having trouble with Boris Bunny, the class bully. Charlie thinks Boris is putting on an act, but his friends disagree. Follow Charlie’s adventures as he helps Boris learn how to be a friend. Fans of the Arthur the Aardvark series will enjoy the antics of the characters in The Adventures of Charlie School Days. Even bullies can be bullied—who knew! Children love reading about the relatable, colorful characters and trying out the activities at the end of each chapter. Many have recommended School Days “because it is funny” and “every character learns a lesson.” Each chapter covers situations that most children deal with daily. The Charlie Chameleon series models ways children can cope with changes and offers suggestions for parents to communicate with their children using humor.

90 pages, Paperback

Published August 7, 2016

Reviews

[Traci Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my fourteen-year career as a preschool teacher, I always made it a point to read any children's book through before sharing it with my children in care. There is just so much rubbish in children's books these days, teachers have to be careful about what they expose little ones to.

Many characters in today's books are spoiled brats and have little to no respect for authority. Others are simply raising themselves, with no authority figures to be found.

The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon series was a refreshing change of pace from those stereotypical TV shows and books. Charlie Chameleon is respectful and polite; he even teaches his pet fish to have manners. He stands up for what's right by assisting a friend who's being tormented by a school bully, even though he's scared too.

The author goes above and beyond the standard by offering bonus material and fun, intermission-type content to keep readers engaged. A few examples are: instructions on how to build a cardboard spaceship, recipes (I'm totally making the chocolate meatballs), and activities to get readers thinking - like the secret coding. What kid doesn't love mysteries, and secret codes?

Each short story found within this book was like an episode of one of my favorite TV shows, Franklin. They're wholesome, engaging, and include a few colorful illustrations that young readers will enjoy to break up the monotony, but not so many that older readers would reject them.

I have to admit, it was strange to encounter the modernized themes found within - email addresses, internet access, etc. But, that's the world in which we now live, so it makes since to include these themes.

I highly recommend parents sit and read these stories with their preschool-aged children, or have their school-aged children read aloud to them. Enriching stories like these should be on the shelves of every parent and educator of young children.

[Kim Rigby · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon: School Days is a fun book with an underlying message for younger readers. We follow Charlie as he attends school, often in company with his sassy pet fish, Frankie. Charlie and his friend Gary encounter Boris Bunny, who is a bully. As we progress through the book, we see how Charlie’s attitude towards Boris changes, while Boris himself undergoes a transformation.
There are beautiful, expressive illustrations throughout, and entertaining activities at the end of each chapter. An engaging, humorous read that cleverly discusses a serious issue, School Days is a Charlie Chameleon book I can highly recommend to the younger member of your family.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart but entertaining! Makes you remember what it's like being a kid :) Good tips for tricky situations.

[Mary Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great little book for schoolkids. It begins with a visit to a museum where Charlie learns the class bully is just as afraid as he is. When they both get lost and find each other, they make the smallest connection, one that helps them later. How to relate to bullies is woven subtly into the stories. No preaching, no slogans, but instead examples of the simple steps people can make to form friendships and earn one another’s trust and respect. Each story is a lot of fun. One ends with a cookie recipe that kids can safely do (no baking). The bully, Boris, says “science is boring,” as he and the others line up for class. The “Fizzy Science” chapter has an easy experiment that can be done in school or at home. By the time the experiment ends, Boris says, “Science is cool.” The inspired illustrations of Charlie the chameleon with his pet fish, his friend Gary the Gecko, and a bird, rabbit, and ferret, add meaning to the stories. They carry the truth well. Overall, a cool read.

[Anita Kovacevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun and educational story, with all the usual school issues touched upon, but not preached about. The characters are all various animals. When you read the story you will see the auhor made really good use of personification, drawing similes between the behaviour of children and animals in a funny way. The illustrations are simple, inobtrusive and helpful, and my daughter liked them. Each chapter brings us a different school day, but all are linked with an unusual friendship developing.
What kid doesn't like going on a school trip and being with friends out of school? Placing the school trip in a museum, the author will certainly draw attention to biology and history, and using animals as characters helps the children relate and raises their interest in various animal species' origin and behaviour.
Baking cookies together with your friends, and chocolate ones on top of all? Another thing everyone loves to do. I enjoyed the little hints the author leaves for us to see the bully Boris has issues of his own, and the way she makes Charlie eager to treat Boris as a friend. Certainly encourages positive behaviour! When Charlie gets ill, every parent will recognize the phases, so the story lends itself to being read by the child alone or with a parent.
The science experiment chapter reminded me of the rare fun lessons in biology and chemistry we did, and how much experiments and team work really help children learn about life and each other.
The interactive activities after the chapters are interesting, simple and fun, and children will definitely enjoy them. I was looking forward to predicting them!
All the characters are likeable and the book sends a very positive message, allowing for mischief, skirmish and curiosity as natural part of growing up. It is a clean read which promotes friendship and learning, which will certainly make me recommend this story to educators and parents working with children from about 5 to 10 years old.

[R.L. Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This whimsical book has a message. While characters like a a chameleon named Charlie and his spunky pet goldfish named Frankie entertain, the underlying message of friendship, value of school and the problem of bullying are there. It even has a "problem" rabbit who changes when befriended. With activities like replicating a class science project, it makes learning enjoyable. It's a good book for a parent or grandparent to read to a child and do the activities together.