The Candy Corn Contest

The Kids of the Polk Street School #3

by Patricia Reilly Giff

It's almost Thanksgiving, and Richard Best can't stop thinking about Ms. Rooney's Candy Corn contest. Whoever can guess the exact number of yellow-and-orange candies in the jar on Ms. Roney's desk gets to keep them all. The only problem is Richard has to read a page in a library book for each guess.



Smelly Matthew, who sits in front of him, knows they'll never win. "We're the worst readers in the class, " he says. But Richard won't give up. He can already taste those Candy Corns. And before he knows it, he has. Three fat juicy ones.



What will Ms. Rooney do when she finds out?

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Thanksgiving, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, School

80 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1982

About the author

Patricia Reilly Giff was the author of many beloved books for children, including the Kids of the Polk Street School books, the Friends and Amigos books, and the Polka Dot Private Eye books. Several of her novels for older readers have been chosen as ALA-ALSC Notable Books and ALA-YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. They include The Gift of the Pirate Queen; All the Way Home; Water Street; Nory Ryan's Song, a Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Honor Book for Fiction; and the Newbery Honor Books Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods. Lily's Crossing was also chosen as a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book.

Reviews

[andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

i have a fairly distinct memory of winning a candy corn contest when i was in elementary school. i loved this book, though - who knows if my brain is just making it up or not.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A snoozy tale about a second grader who's a little dim and a bit of a jerk. He gets himself in trouble with a friend and the teacher and spends a lot of the book feebly fretting about his problems, unable to come up with any workable solutions on his own.

Tedious and tiring.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bit dated but my third graders really enjoyed it.

[Aspen · Rating 2 out of 5]

When a boy named Richard Best's class has a candy corn jar guessing contest things for him get exciting but the fact that you have to read a page for each guess you make. He goes throught this rough time trying to guess how many in the jar and only has three more day's and he can just taste them. He know he won't win so wishes for his mom to have them at his soon to be Thanksgiving party. Before you know it he has three big candy corn candies. He wonders and wonders if his teacher Ms. Rooney will find out. But suddenlly he gives up the gilt in front of the whole class rite before the guessing starts. Ms. Rooney said it's ok and that a true pilgrim would tell the truth and eat three candy corns. And luckly for his grind Emily that he put three back in the container and wins the whole jar. And is nice enough that sh shares it with the class.

I am going to give this book a two because it was good but then boring at the same time. And I would read this book again if I had to because it was atually interesting and probrably has happened some time in my life I just didn't find out.

I would recomend this book for slow readers like me first because I enjoyed it myself and second it was easy but not to easy

[James Vachowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I prefer reviewing full-length novels aimed at middle-grade and young adult readers, I definitely don’t want to overlook some of the outstanding chapter books aimed at younger boys. Patricia Reilly Giff’s “Polk Street School” series is an excellent example of these. One great advantage of this series is that if you like the characters, you can pick up the next book and follow your new friends into their next adventure!

In “The Candy Corn Contest”, Mrs. Rooney hosts a contest with her second grade class to see if anyone can guess the number of candy corns inside a jar on her desk. No one is successful, and during the week Richard “the Beast” Best accidentally discovers that the magic number is written on the bottom of the jar! Richard doesn’t want to be a cheater, so he has to find a way to get out of the contest without ruining everyone else’s fun.

This situation might seem simple, but it’s probably a major ethical dilemma for a second-grader! I think that the intended audience would really identify with Richard, especially if they thought he might get in trouble for being honest.

For more reviews highlighting some of my favorite books for young men, be sure to check out http://www.booksboyslike.blogspot.com.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I really liked this as a child, re-reading it as an adult shows me a darker side to the book which illustrates some bullying from the teacher towards the students in her class. I would not recommend for any class.

[Seth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book as a kid. It was one of the only books I had, given to me as a gift by one of my older siblings.

I remember it being full of immature kids treating each other like shit. Not really a great book for little boys to read.

[Kate♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5stars

read this with my phonics group to help them get comfortable with reading aloud/reading fluency. It was fine - it was a little dated in some of it's writing, and it was very simple. The kids thought it was fine.

[raamat · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute read! And very autumnal! It takes me back to my elementary school days, and the joys of show-and-tell, holiday art projects, lunch time, sleepovers, and partner work. It’s easy and delightful and perfect for November.

I appreciated that the classmates got along as a community, even if they were not all the best of friends. Everyone was accepted and valued- what a good message to convey. I think “kids” young & old would enjoy this book! 🍁🍂

[Jane Maple · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels like part of a story rather than a whole story. Richard "Beast" Best is in class waiting for show and tell when the teacher announces that there will be a contest to guess how much candy corn is in a jar. Each child will get a guess for each page they read in their library books. Finally it is show and tell and after having to wait through one girl's long description of a wedding and another boy forgetting what he was going to say. Beast can finally go to the front of the class and announce that everyone is invited to a sleepover party at his house the day after thanksgiving. When a girl reacts excitedly he amends what he said before by stating it would only be the boys. (And apparently the teacher has no problem with the idea of a student inviting part of the class to a party during show n tell.) After show n tell, the class is learning about the pilgrims and how helpful the Indians were to their survival by teaching the Indians to plant fish with their corn. Beast is planning out his party. Two of the boys from the class can't come since they will be traveling for Thanksgiving but the other six can, but that includes Matthew who wets the bed. Beast plans out who will sleep by Matthew. Beast is in the classroom alone after class he plans just to count the candy corn that he can see, but in the end he opens the jar and eats three of the candy corn. Beast runs into Matthew who tells him that he saw the teacher count all the candy corn and right the correct number on the bottom of the jar and then when the correct number is guessed she is going to have them open the jar and count the candy corn for a math lesson. So the 3 missing candies will be noticed. Beast is surprised that she would leave the jar out and not lock it up (me too!). Beast eventually talks to some other boys from the party and none of them want to sleep next to Matthew. Beast gets frustrated at Matthew for messing up the party and starts treating him badly. Meanwhile kids are beginning to announce their guesses in class, as they read pages in their book. The teacher simply announces each one is wrong and finally announces that all the guesses are too high. (But no instruction to the children on how they might make better educated guesses - isn't this suppose to be a learning exercise?) The class is making applesauce. Beast forgot his apple. Matthew offers to share, but Beast is in a bad mood because of the issues with the sleepover. Beast says mean things about Matthew and the teacher asks Matthew to stay after class and she talks to him. Afterwards Matthew makes an excuse for not coming to Beasts sleepover party. He says that he is traveling to Plymouth Florida, at first Beast believes this but when he watches the school play and realizes Plymouth is not in Florida he knows that Matthew just made this up to get out of the party. While the play is going on, Beast says he has to go to the restroom and sneaks up to classroom to change the number on the bottom of the jar. Matthew comes up and convinces Beast not to do it and that he will get in trouble if he does. The next day Matthew gives Beast 3 candy corns to put back in the jar for the ones he ate. Beast tells the teacher what he did saying that the Pilgrims would have done the same (I know this story was written in 1984 - but weren't the Native Americans the more moral folks in the Thanksgiving story - helping the Pilgrims survive the winter. I know that the Pilgrims had strong religious beliefs but since the book doesn't get into that in the teacher's lesson, it is not clear why Beast focuses on the Pilgrim as moral people rather than the Native Americans.) Beast now knows the correct number of candies in the jar and could guess it but guesses the wrong number. A girl in class guesses the right number and shares the candies with the class. Beast insists that Michael come to his sleepover party and Michael accepts and mentions how he will bring an alarm clock so that the can wake up at night and remember to go to the bathroom (the fact that this will wake up the other boys is not discussed in fact the book ends here so we never get to the party that what such a plot point - to me this makes it feel like an unfinished story).

[Alysha DeShaé · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm disappointed in this story. I was hoping it would be cute and, since I love candy corn, the title caught my eye. Richard is rude, gossips about Matthew who continues to be nice to him, and steals three candy corns from the jar on his teachers desk. Yes, he ends up apologizing to Matthew and convinces him (with a few "hints") to come to his sleepover, he confesses and apologizes to his teacher, but only after Matthew brings him three replacement candy corns.

I don't know. I wouldn't use this story as an example of making mistakes and then trying to fix them, but I think that was supposed to be the moral.

[Losangelesschools · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's almost Thanksgiving, and Richard Best can't stop thinking about Ms. Rooney's Candy Corn contest. Whoever can guess the exact number of yellow-and-orange candies in the jar on Ms. Roney's desk gets to keep them all. The only problem is Richard has to read a page in a library book for each guess.



Smelly Matthew, who sits in front of him, knows they'll never win. "We're the worst readers in the class, " he says. But Richard won't give up. He can already taste those Candy Corns. And before he knows it, he has. Three fat juicy ones.

keep up thgood work!!!!!

[Carson hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it so interesting that reviewers seem to have different perspectives on this book. I almost didn't read it because there were so many reviews saying that there was bullying and treating people horribly, but then I saw a review saying that this book teaches empathy. Well, you can't really have both unless something major happens, so I decided to read it. I feel that this book is not about the bullying, but it is, in fact, about having empathy for others. I just wish more people would see that.

[Dayna · Rating 2 out of 5]

These kids are so mean! Ends well.

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really appreciate that the author is teaching kids to not make fun of other kids especially don't talk about their problems in public.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars -- This has been my favorite of the series so far. The story surrounds Ms. Rooney's class is the days leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. They outline their hands to make turkeys, and Ms. Rooney has started a Candy Corn Contest. Students get to guess how many candy corns are in the jar. The number of guesses they get is based on the number of pages they read in their reading book. Richard 'the Beast' Best is obsessed with that jar as well as his upcoming sleepover for the boys of the class the night after Thanksgiving. And of course, in a room filled with 2nd graders, there are many life lessons to be learned too. Good job, Richard. Good job, Class.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love these school series for newly independent readers. But this one just seems off. Also extra didactic. And it has dated & disrespectful references to Pilgrims and 'the first Thanksgiving.' I think there's a reason that I found it in a Little Free Library.

[Family Book Nook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the worst chapter book, but not one I will personally be handing to my boys. Lots of gossip and some bullying of a child who wets the bed and doesn't bathe/shower regularly. Overall, if it was a really great story, I could overlook some of that, but it was just ok.

[Jan Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a guess the candy corn in the jar contest at school and you win it. Meanwhile, Richard is having a sleepover and has issues with bullying a bed wetting kid. But be a good Pilgrim and make good choices and share with the class.

[Tobreth Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

read to kids - fun, good morals but not too preachy

[Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

its to skippy

[Vicki Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friendship

This is a great book about having troubles with reading, friendships, and problems at home. Lessons are learned. This is a positive book about all of them.

[Leah G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book. It was much more fascinating when I read it as a third grader, but it’s a cute, easy to comprehend chapter book.

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Empathy, truth and friendship. Nice read aloud for the season.

[Marvin Broadnax · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a fun quick read. Has a couple of stories going at the same time that wrap up in the end. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a fun little story.

[Sara Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book with multiple good lessons for kids!! My girls loved it!!!

[Ashley Speed · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was no fun.

[Tessa Zimmerly · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd-3rd grade
Genre- Fiction/ Contemporary Realistic

The Candy corn contest is a very cute and relatable book. Patricia Giff did a great job creating a story with using candy corn as motivation for an elementary school class. Having to read a whole page of a library book just to make one guess for the contest could be a difficult task for a third grader, but the candy was very motivational for them and Richard was able to read many pages.

[Rommel Isai Blandon Molina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a boy that eats 3 pieces of candy corn and is trying to get the number changed but tells the truth at the end

[Mrs. Cannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is about a boy who wanted to have a sleep over with his friends but no one wanted to sleep to this person named noah because he drooled on people in his sleep. But then the teacher anounced that there will be a candy corn contest and how many pages you read in a book is one guess per page but he ends up cheating and eating two of the candy corns and looked at the number at the end of the jar.