Never Swipe a Bully's Bear

Roscoe Riley Rules #2

by Katherine Applegate, Brian Biggs (Illustrations)

The second book in a hilarious chapter book series about an accidental rule breaker from Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal–winning and bestselling author of The One and Only Ivan , Endling, and Wishtree. When Roscoe’s stuffed pig, Hamilton, goes missing, he is convinced that Wyatt, the class bully, is responsible. When Roscoe finds out where Wyatt keeps his teddy bear, he decides to give that pignapper a taste of his own medicine. That will fix everything. Won’t it? Roscoe and his comical misadventures will appeal to fans of Megan McDonald’s Stink series; Nancy Krulik’s George Brown, Class Clown series; Rebecca Elliott’s Owl Diaries series;and Dan Gutman’s My Weirder School series.

Genres: Childrens, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction, Juvenile, 2nd Grade, Humor, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2008

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Katherine Applegate has written many books for young readers, including THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal.

Katherine’s picture books include THE BUFFALO STORM, illustrated by Jan Ormerod (Clarion Books); THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF IVAN, THE SHOPPING MALL GORILLA, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Clarion Books); SOMETIMES YOU FLY, illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt (Clarion Books); and ODDER: AN OTTER’S STORY, illustrated by Charles Santoso (Feiwel & Friends).

She’s written or co-written three early chapter series for young readers: ROSCOE RILEY RULES, a seven-book series illustrated by Brian Biggs (HarperCollins); DOGGO AND PUPPER, a three-book series illustrated by Charlie Alder (Feiwel & Friends). With Gennifer Choldenko, she co-authored DOGTOWN and MOUSE AND HIS DOG, illustrated by Wallace West (Feiwel & Friends).

Books for middle-grade readers include HOME OF THE BRAVE (Feiwel & Friends); THE ONE AND ONLY series, illustrated by Patricia Castelao, including THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, THE ONE AND ONLY BOB, THE ONE AND ONLY RUBY, and THE ONE AND ONLY FAMILY (HarperCollins); the ENDLING trilogy (HarperCollins); CRENSHAW (Feiwel & Friends); WISHTREE (Feiwel & Friends); WILLODEEN (Feiwel & Friends); ODDER (Feiwel & Friends); and the forthcoming POCKET BEAR (Feiwel & Friends).

With her husband, Michael Grant, Katherine co-wrote ANIMORPHS, a long-running series that has sold over 35 million books worldwide. They also wrote two other series, REMNANTS and EVERWORLD, and a young adult novel, EVE AND ADAM (Feiwel & Friends.)

Katherine’s work has been translated into dozens of languages, and her books have won accolades including the Christopher Medal, the Golden Kite Award, the Bank Street Josette Frank Award, the California Book Award Gold Medal, the Crystal Kite Award, the Green Earth Book Honor Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award, and the E.B. White Read Aloud Award. Many of her works have appeared on state master lists, Best of the Year lists, and Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and New York Times bestseller lists.

Katherine lives in Nevada with her husband and assorted pets. She is represented by Elena Giovinazzo at Heirloom Literary and Mary Pender at WME.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neo and I spent some time today with Roscoe Riley, who always seems to be gagging into timeout. After taking his stuffed pig, Hamilton, to school one day, the class bully learns of this ultimate secret. Roscoe is afraid that he will be found out, but Wyatt seems more interested in mocking him from afar. After deciding to confront him, Roscoe learns that Wyatt has his own stuffed animal, a ragged teddy bear. Roscoe plots to bear-nap this stuffie, hiding him back at his own house. With Hamilton still missing, a cloud of glumness overtakes Roscoe, while an equally large one is situated over Wyatt. What will happen to be resolution to this situation and how did Roscoe ever get found out? Neo and I are enhjoying these chapter books and hope other young readers can join in the fun. Check them out, as they are well worth the time!

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fitting sequel to the epic "Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs." In this episode Roscoe is conflicted over having his pet pig Hamilton ride back and forth to school in his backpack. Some other kids make him feel like a baby for still needing his favorite stuffed animal. The classroom bully is especially troublesome and later that day Roscoe cannot find Hamilton. He immediately suspects the bully is the culprit and proceeds accordingly. Some great life lessons about how to treat others. Will most certainly be a popular read for boys and girls.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read with my son. I’ve lost my voice since he made me read the whole thing in one sitting and he is already begging to move on to the next adventure!

[James Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it when Roscoe thought Wyatt stole the bear, but it turned out to be someone else!
This was kind of a mystery that was fun to read and exciting!

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as laugh out loud funny as the first book for me, but a good choice for our class read aloud.

[zapkode · Rating 5 out of 5]

{My Thoughts} – Roscoe Riley is once again in timeout for his bad behavior. In this book his heart wasn’t in the right place though. He was jealous of another boys stuffed animal. Rosco’s went missing and he assumed the other boy took it. When he saw the other boy had a stuffed animal he took his. He figured it was only fair and that maybe the other boy would return his stuffed animal to him.

It is never okay to accuse someone of taking something of yours without proof. It is never okay to take something that doesn’t belong to you out of jealousy or spite.

In this book Roscoe learned that he acted too rash and that he didn’t have all the facts. He learned that it isn’t fair to treat others badly just because you feel bad. He learned that when you lose something important to you that it is likely you will eventually find it again I’m a place you least expect it to be.

I highly recommend this book for any child that is having a difficult time engaging in the book world. It has a nice lesson about following the rules and it has humor, which makes for a nice read.

[Sandybear76]

first grader secretly takes his stuffed pig to school and it disappears. Roscoe thinks that Wyatt took it so Roscoe takes Wyatt's bear. A bear-napping. Easy chapter book for new readers.

[JMV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew being a kid would have so many rules!

[Darren Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did I think? I think I liked it!

The Roscoe Riley series is great at telling stories to students in a language and style they understand.

It is neither too simple, not too complex, and even plays with the idea of not knowing difficult words as part of its world building.

The first person narrative is perfect for conveying the feeling of being Roscoe Riley. It's like he's a friend to the reader, telling us why he is in time out (again!)

The variable chapter length further adds a child like character to this book. Life doesn't often happen in equally measured beats.

I also like the extras after the story, the lists and activities that kids can read and do to learn more and travel further into Roscoe's world.

That being said, the inclusion of al the extras did confuse my students a bit. They weren't sure how much they were supposed to read!

But it's not a huge concern. Just something to be aware of and clear about before handing out books to the class.

Definitely give this series a try.

[Sheri S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roscoe Riley definitely keeps his teacher busy with his various antics! In this book, he brings his stuffed pig to school, which he keeps in his backpack, but when he gets home the pig is not there! Roscoe is convinced that the classroom bully had something to do with it, so he retaliates. Lessons are to be learned regarding making assumptions and a trip to time out is inevitable. A fun and entertaining book...

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roscoe Riley Rules #1 and #2 are short funny stories about a young boy getting constantly into trouble, although he means well and has always great reasons. This 7 book series is not as deep as the two novels I have read by her. However, they are funny and do have nice life lessons. Set in the context of trouble in class, they remind me a lot of the French classics Le Petit Nicolas, by René Goscinny, though they are shorter and for younger kids.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roscoe deals with a bully in his class, Wyatt, who frequently picks on Roscoe. When Roscoe's favorite stuffed animal, a pig, goes missing, Roscoe believes it is the work of Wyatt, who saw Roscoe talking to his pig in the cloak room. I really liked the difficult themes this book talked about, like bullying, stealing, and being honest. These are real situations kids need to learn how to deal with, and this book did so in an appropriate way.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series of stories about a mischievous second grade boy, who can't help getting in trouble. The reason I like these is because he is willing to admit his mistakes, and FIX them. He learns how to treat people the way he would want to be treated. Definitely a beginning chapter book. Luisa liked it too.

[Erin *BookDragon_Library* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audience whom written - age 7-10
Audience whom appeal - age 6-8 (K-2/3) - Roscoe is a 1st grader and elementary kids don’t usually like ke to read about characters a lot younger than them so I think a 4th grader maybe would have a harder time picking it up. Except for the humor might be enough to hook reluctant readers in ¾ despite the age of Roscoe.
Strengths - Great start to a book with Roscoe in a time out chair talking about what he has done wrong. Referring to the importance of stuffed animals which is relatable to most kids. The first three chapters do a great job introducing the reader to the fact that Roscoe is probably a bit of a trouble maker and that the book will have humor. Max the teasing older brother is also relateable. Black and white illustrations smattered throughout help highlight important parts of the story. Roscoes stuffed pig disappears out of his backpack at school and he thinks the class bully Wyatt took it. When Roscoe does his bear napping of Wyatts stuffed animal he describes his stomach as feeling “throw uppy” all day which shows he feels remorse and knows what he’s doing is wrong. He continues to feel guilt the whole time he has Wyatt the bully’s bear. Eventually he finds his pig and discovers it fell out of his backpack so he confesses what he did to his dad who talks to him about not assuming people are guilty of things and drives him to return the bear. The tone stays humorous throughout.
Weaknesses - it isn’t a weakness but the mom in me gets sad when the 4th grade brother is teasing him that stuffed animals are for babies not 1st graders. 1st graders are still “babies” who love their animals.

[Flash Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the book.

[Alice Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice: 4 stars. I liked it.
Jenny: 4 stars. Cute book about jumping to conclusions and how that's a bad idea.

[Swara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is so funny that I was not able to stop my laughter.

[Acelynn Ott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny!!!

[Candy Shepard · Rating 5 out of 5]

My class’s book club loved this book.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early elementary chapter book about a first grader who steals another kids stuffed toy in retaliation for his being missing. funny

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first grader named Roscoe Riley got himself in time out again but this time it's a totally different story let me tell it to you. Their is a stuffed animal that Roscoe really loves and it's a pig named Hamilton. Every day Roscoe takes Hamilton to school but nobody knows about it except for his two best friends Gus and Emma. One day Roscoe was getting ready for school and he puts Hamilton in his backpack. when Roscoe was at school this kid named Whyat bullies him and says mean things. A little bit later Roscoe forgot to check on Hamilton so he went outside to check on him. He opened his backpack to check and he was safe he talked to him for a second and then Whyat saw what roscoe was doing he thought something was suspicious about Roscoe. Whyat asked Roscoe who is he talking to? then Roscoe hesitated and then he said nobody. Then Roscoe went back inside with Whyat then when Roscoe left school he got on the bus and went home then when he got their he went strait upstairs with his backpack and opened it then he noticed that Hamilton was gone. He wheeled wahhhhhhhh his mom and dad came over and she said whats wrong Roscoe said that Hamilton was gon then everyone started looking for poor little Hamilton but they had no luck. Roscoe's mom said we have to end for today. The next morning at school Roscoe was so sad and under his eyes were black marks. His friend Gus and Emma came over to greet him they said what's wrong? Roscoe said that Hamilton his favorite stuffed animal was gone they tried to cheer him up but they couldn't. Roscoe jumped to a conclusion and said that since Whyat saw him talking to Hamilton he must've stealed him Roscoe called Whyat a pignapper then they started to argue the teacher Ms.Diz came over to break the argument. Roscoe told Ms.Diz what had happen and the dean came in he brought them to the office and they had a little talk. After that he brought them back to class and Ms.Diz said that they are going to have a stuffed animal party and the principal and teacher would bring their stuffed animals to school. Roscoe was excited about it but he was sad that he had lost Hamilton. Then he noticed that Whyat had a stuffed bear named Boby at lunch Roscoe took Boby out Whyat backpack and then hid him in his backpack when he got home he took his backpack upstairs to his room and took him out of his backpack and hid him in the dirty clothes pile. the next day Whyat was so sad because he lost his bear Boby. At school Whyat was to sad to make a joke to Roscoe. at the playground they were both sitting on both sides of the swing set and then the teacher Ms.Diz went to talk to them Whyat said that someone stole his stuff bear Boby then Roscoe said that he lost his suff pig Hamilton. She asked them if they have another stuff animal that they like? they didn't answer.The next day was the stuff animal party and they both had nothing to bring then Roscoe's big brother gave him his stuff animal and Whyat's big brother gave him his tuff animal for school at the party they had fun but they both missed their stuff animals. On the bus at home kids were playing catch the bus driver told them to stop throwing the football then Roscoe noticed that what the kids were throwing wasn't a foot ball it was a pig it was Hamilton except he wore a dress and he was washed up. A little girl told him she found him in the streets and took him home. When Roscoe got home he took Hamilton to his room then he noticed one sad black eye and an ear then he told his dad what had happn they took Boby to Whyat's house and Whyat was so happy to see him Roscoe apologized for calling Whyata pignapper and for taking his stuff bear. Whyat said it was ok and then Roscoe left. So that's why I am in time out right now. See yah.

[Bora]

what? Roscoe swiped wyatt's bear.
why? He mistook wyatt for pignapper.

Roscoe had a stuffed pig, Hamilton. He loved Hamilton and took him to school, leaving backpack zipper open a little to make him breathe. But he didnot want anyone to see Hamilton.

At school, Wyatt, a bully overheard Roscoe talking to Hamilion. That night, Roscoe found Hamilton missing. Roacoe couldnot fall asleep without him.
Next day, he tought Wyatt was a pignapper. And Roscoe and Wyatt had a fight about Hamilton. During the fight, Bobo, Wyatt's stuffed bear popped out from his backpack. They were sent to the principal's office. And Ms. Diz announced that her class was going to have a stuffed animal party. But Roscoe felt glum and lonly that he didnot want to take any stuffed animal except for Hamilton. He swiped Wyatt's Bobo and took it home and hid in the closet because he still thought Wyatt had taken Hamilton. He took his brother's dog to the stuffed animal party. But he still missed Hamilton and felt sorry for Wyatt.

On the school bus, Roscoe found Hamilton. He was fallen off from Roacoe's backpack and picked up by a kindergartener. After getting him back, he decided to tell the truth about bear napping and give it back to Wyatt.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as part of my quest for easy chapter books featuring boys at the main characters. The story was cute and Roscoe is a kid with quite the personality. My one big beef with this book is that it is almost completely comprised of paragraphs that are only one sentence long. I'm not sure why this is, because having so many ridiculously short paragraphs doesn't allow any of the sentences to stand out, which is kind of the usualy purpose of inserting a few such short paragraphs into a story. It drove me crazy, but very young readers might not be so bothered by it.

[Ubalstecha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roscoe loves his stuffed pig Hamilton. A lot. He can't sleep without him. Roscoe brings Hamilton to school every day, but leaves him in his backpack to avoid being made fun of. But when Hamilton goes missing, Roscoe is convinced that Wyatt, the class bully is responsible. This leads him to an action that he later regrets.

This is a lovely follow-up for the first book of this early chapter book series. Roscoe is a mischievous scamp with whom many readers will identify. Great for the reluctant readers.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Roscoe Riley Rules series by Katherine Applegate. The story relates how taking retaliation against someone who might have done something to you is not the right answer. It also shows that even children who may make fun of a treasured 'lovey' may have one of their own.

I haven't read too many of the books in this series, but we were on a road trip with a six-year-old boy, and this was a terrific story to listen to with him. It was short and entertaining.

[Terry]

The story is so funny and moves so fast, it is hard to read just one chapter at a time. The author has pegged the age groups and their senses of humor. There aren't quite enough illustrations share in reading, but if Roscoe keeps breaking rules, I'm sure we'll catch up.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub.

[Stacia Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was funny and succinct. It was a good story, dealing with bullies, standing up for yourself, stealing, and making wrong decisions. It came across very kid friendly without being heavy handed. There was no thumping on the head about who is right and who is wrong. How kids react to each other and situations came across as very real to me. I laughed out loud and some of the things Roscoe said.

Cleverly written and ended on a good note.

[Talia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roscoe brings his favorite stuffed animal, a pig named Hamilton, to school one day, then manages to lose him! Bully Wyatt may be to blame, so Roscoe seeks revenge by kidnapping Wyatt’s bear Bobo.

A cute book where everything wraps up in the end, and I LOVE Roscoe’s relationship with his older brother.

[Beth Kakuma-Depew · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son loves this series, and begs me to read it out loud. The illustrations are fun and give just enough hints at the plot. The unfolding plot was a cliff-hanger and yet realist from a 1st grader perspective. The author captures the emotions of a 6 year old. And while no one's as funny as Junie B. Jones, there's enough humor for the early grader.

[Shonica · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 2nd book just confirms that Roscoe Riley is wonderful! In this one, Roscoe's beloved stuffed pig, Hamilton goes missing and Roscoe is pretty sure he knows who did it.
I will definitely recommend this book to all of my young friends. And for the record, I still love my stuffed dog, Tuggy and I will until I'm 101.