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Zelda and Ivy #5
Keeping Secrets
A companion to the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner! The fabulous fox sisters return in three wry adventures for beginning readers.
It’s springtime, and little sister Ivy wants to prove she can keep a secret, but there are some secrets that are too good to keep. Big sister Zelda longs to play the perfect April Fool’s Day prank, but can she outsmart the clever Ivy? And will opera star hopeful Zelda be upstaged by a butterfly in the final act? Fresh and funny, full of sugar and sass, this trio of tales about everyday life with siblings and friends is sure to strike a chord with young readers everywhere.
It’s springtime, and little sister Ivy wants to prove she can keep a secret, but there are some secrets that are too good to keep. Big sister Zelda longs to play the perfect April Fool’s Day prank, but can she outsmart the clever Ivy? And will opera star hopeful Zelda be upstaged by a butterfly in the final act? Fresh and funny, full of sugar and sass, this trio of tales about everyday life with siblings and friends is sure to strike a chord with young readers everywhere.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
32 people want to read
About the author
Laura McGee Kvasnosky
25 books19 followersLaura McGee Kvasnosky is the author-illustrator of many books for young readers, including the series Zelda & Ivy. She lives in Seattle.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 15, 2018
Neo and I tackled this collection of three short pieces, all of which proved interesting:
1) Keeping Secrets: Ivy and Zelda share a secret about the tooth fairy with one another. When Ivy and Eugene play together later, they both learn that Zelda has shared a secret with them. Eager to know, they realise it's a similar one. Then, to create their own mystery, Ivy and Eugene create one of their own.
2) April Fool: Ivy and Zelda undertake a mission to fool one another on April 1st. However, Zelda's attempts are foiled repeatedly and she ends up turning the tables on herself.
3) Madam Butterfly: While Ivy and Eugene are trying to capture a special butterfly, Zelda only wants to re-enact her favourite opera. With no chance of catching anything while Zelda is singing, Ivy and Eugene join in with a few 'la la la' bars here and there. After a heroic termination scene, Zelda remains still and the encore is something no one expected.
Neo liked these stories to start his day. Not sure he was drawn to them in the traditional sense, but he did pay attention throughout.
1) Keeping Secrets: Ivy and Zelda share a secret about the tooth fairy with one another. When Ivy and Eugene play together later, they both learn that Zelda has shared a secret with them. Eager to know, they realise it's a similar one. Then, to create their own mystery, Ivy and Eugene create one of their own.
2) April Fool: Ivy and Zelda undertake a mission to fool one another on April 1st. However, Zelda's attempts are foiled repeatedly and she ends up turning the tables on herself.
3) Madam Butterfly: While Ivy and Eugene are trying to capture a special butterfly, Zelda only wants to re-enact her favourite opera. With no chance of catching anything while Zelda is singing, Ivy and Eugene join in with a few 'la la la' bars here and there. After a heroic termination scene, Zelda remains still and the encore is something no one expected.
Neo liked these stories to start his day. Not sure he was drawn to them in the traditional sense, but he did pay attention throughout.
January 28, 2023
This might be my favorite one of them all! It’s super hilarious!
August 10, 2018
8/9/2018 Read with Julia.
November 15, 2009
Although this isn’t one of my favorite readers, it still has some elements that I found sweet and funny. One thing I found a bit confusing is that the book is in 3 chapters, but the chapters are not a continuation of each other, but 3 discrete stories. This is the first Zelda and Ivy book I’ve read, and perhaps because I picked up a book in the middle of the series, but I had difficulty telling the characters apart. I will have to pick up an earlier Zelda and Ivy book to learn more background about them. I may discover that lack of background from not starting at the beginning hindered me from engaging as much as I would have liked.
Zelda and Ivy are two sister and Eugene is their friend. All the characters are foxes. In the first chapter, Keeping Secrets, Zelda tells Eugene a secret, but makes him ‘woozy-weasel promise’ not to tell Ivy because she can’t keep a secret. Later when Eugene and Ivy are playing they reveal that they each have a secret from Zelda that they are not supposed to tell the other. They tell the secret to each other and learn that it was the same secret: “your mother is the tooth fairy.” While it’s sweet that Ivy and Eugene conclude that since the tooth fairy job is so big their mom’s have to work together, this story line is only for the kid whose tooth fairy-believing days are behind them.
In another chapter, April Fool, Ivy tricks Zelda into thinking her ears are purple. Zelda tries all day to trick Ivy back, by putting confetti in her umbrella - not used on the sunny day, cucumbers in her PBJ - picked out before eating, and smelly socks under Ivy’s pillow - Ivy slept the other direction. Ivy is one step ahead each time. A week later, it is Zelda who gets rained on by her own confetti umbrella trick when she borrows Ivy’s umbrella.
The sisters seem to have a lot of fun with each other, but I didn’t find the story lines particularly memorable. The illustrations however, are beautiful. The have a very bold and painterly quality to them. The are intermingled nicely with the text to allow for a nice pace for the early reader.
Zelda and Ivy are two sister and Eugene is their friend. All the characters are foxes. In the first chapter, Keeping Secrets, Zelda tells Eugene a secret, but makes him ‘woozy-weasel promise’ not to tell Ivy because she can’t keep a secret. Later when Eugene and Ivy are playing they reveal that they each have a secret from Zelda that they are not supposed to tell the other. They tell the secret to each other and learn that it was the same secret: “your mother is the tooth fairy.” While it’s sweet that Ivy and Eugene conclude that since the tooth fairy job is so big their mom’s have to work together, this story line is only for the kid whose tooth fairy-believing days are behind them.
In another chapter, April Fool, Ivy tricks Zelda into thinking her ears are purple. Zelda tries all day to trick Ivy back, by putting confetti in her umbrella - not used on the sunny day, cucumbers in her PBJ - picked out before eating, and smelly socks under Ivy’s pillow - Ivy slept the other direction. Ivy is one step ahead each time. A week later, it is Zelda who gets rained on by her own confetti umbrella trick when she borrows Ivy’s umbrella.
The sisters seem to have a lot of fun with each other, but I didn’t find the story lines particularly memorable. The illustrations however, are beautiful. The have a very bold and painterly quality to them. The are intermingled nicely with the text to allow for a nice pace for the early reader.
May 17, 2011
Big thumbs down on this book. I like the series as a whole and the stories themselves were good. But what's the deal with giving away the tooth fairy in a book for young readers? I was listening to our 7 year old read this aloud to our 5 year old and was horrified when she got to that part! I played it off as a joke, but I'm sure that they are starting to doubt already.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2010
A cute easy reader, though had I taken it home to read, I would not have appreciated the idea of me being the tooth fairy put into my 7-year-old's head. Perhaps she is in the minority in her age group, but she still believes in Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy.
June 29, 2011
EDLI 200 Requirement: Fiction Easy Reader
Genre: Easy Reader
Reading Level: Grade 1-3
Fox sisters, Zelda and Ivy together with their friend Eugene, fill their days with backyard fun, laughter and pranks. Secrets, tricks and opera await in this fun little book.
Genre: Easy Reader
Reading Level: Grade 1-3
Fox sisters, Zelda and Ivy together with their friend Eugene, fill their days with backyard fun, laughter and pranks. Secrets, tricks and opera await in this fun little book.
November 10, 2015
This book is about keeping Secrets. Zelda tells secret to Eugene. Zelda told Eugiene not to tell secret to Ivy because she cant keep a secret.Eugene's mom is tooth fairy. Eugene tells ivy that Zelda told me a secret and told not to tell you.Eugene and ivy tries to catch butterfly .
April 15, 2009
This is the story of friends and the lack of being able to keep secrets. Not bad but not all that exciting. I wish we could have better stories for these beginning readers. Grades 1+
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews