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The Great Fuzz Frenzy
Deep, deep down in their underground town, the prairie dogs live in harmony - until a mysterious, fluorescent, very fuzzy thing (otherwise known as a tennis ball) rolls down their hole. When the prairie dogs discover that they can pluck and pull the fuzz into fabulous fashions, their fear quickly turns to curiosity, then delight, then pure greed.
The frenzy that erupts threatens to tear apart the prairie-dog town forever. But when mean ol' Big Bark is kidnapped after taking all the fuzz for himself, the prairie dogs come to the rescue and remember the true meaning of community.
The frenzy that erupts threatens to tear apart the prairie-dog town forever. But when mean ol' Big Bark is kidnapped after taking all the fuzz for himself, the prairie dogs come to the rescue and remember the true meaning of community.
56 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2005
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939 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews
June 19, 2019
Such a cute and hilarious book!!! 💓
August 10, 2011
I discovered this fabulous picture book a few years ago with my middle son and we both loved it. Now my youngest son asks me to read it again and again. And I oblige, because it’s one of those rare books that never wears out no matter how many times you read it. The pictures are brilliant and funny, and the text just rolls out in a fun, quirky, “fuzzy” tumble.
The Great Fuzz Frenzy takes place in a prairie dog hole. Before the text begins, pictures show a great big golden retriever dropping a tennis ball down the hole. It bumps and it rumbles all the way to the bottom, and the prairie dogs don’t know what to make of it. Till young Pip touches it, and some of the yellow fuzz gets caught in her claw.
This prompts the frenzy indicated in the title. Every prairie dog wants fuzz. They “pulled it. Puffed it. Stretched it. Fluffed it. Tugged it. Twirled it. Spiked it. Swirled it” until the fuzz ran out, and the dogs began fighting each other for the limited supply.
In the end, the prairie dogs learn what really matters, the villain becomes the hero, and everyone swears off fuzz. But trouble threatens again in the very last picture.
I guarantee young kids will love this. Probably many of the older ones as well. My middle son still sits in on readings. I highly recommend you look up a copy!
The Great Fuzz Frenzy takes place in a prairie dog hole. Before the text begins, pictures show a great big golden retriever dropping a tennis ball down the hole. It bumps and it rumbles all the way to the bottom, and the prairie dogs don’t know what to make of it. Till young Pip touches it, and some of the yellow fuzz gets caught in her claw.
This prompts the frenzy indicated in the title. Every prairie dog wants fuzz. They “pulled it. Puffed it. Stretched it. Fluffed it. Tugged it. Twirled it. Spiked it. Swirled it” until the fuzz ran out, and the dogs began fighting each other for the limited supply.
In the end, the prairie dogs learn what really matters, the villain becomes the hero, and everyone swears off fuzz. But trouble threatens again in the very last picture.
I guarantee young kids will love this. Probably many of the older ones as well. My middle son still sits in on readings. I highly recommend you look up a copy!
March 14, 2020
Great book!
February 7, 2025
a favorite of Sophie’s atm
March 20, 2009
Notable Book of the English Language Arts (BELA) 2006
The GREAT FUZZ FRENZY is an excellent read aloud for primary students. The story begins with a dog dropping a tennis ball into a prairie dog tunnel. The frightened prairie dogs don’t know what to do with the fuzzy round thing that just invaded their home. After some initial investigating, the prairie dogs discover that the tennis ball is a great source of entertainment.
Honored for its excellent use of language, THE GREAT FUZZ FRENZY, is full of rhythmic and humorous vocabulary. “It was a fuzz frenzy. A fuzz fiesta. A fuzz fandangle.” My students enjoyed, “fandangle” most. Eventually the prairie dogs take all the fuzz off the tennis ball leading to a war! The battle raged on-“friend against friend, cousin against cousin, dog against dog.” THE GREAT FUZZ FRENZY makes children laugh and is currently on the 2009 Monarch Award Master List.
The GREAT FUZZ FRENZY is an excellent read aloud for primary students. The story begins with a dog dropping a tennis ball into a prairie dog tunnel. The frightened prairie dogs don’t know what to do with the fuzzy round thing that just invaded their home. After some initial investigating, the prairie dogs discover that the tennis ball is a great source of entertainment.
Honored for its excellent use of language, THE GREAT FUZZ FRENZY, is full of rhythmic and humorous vocabulary. “It was a fuzz frenzy. A fuzz fiesta. A fuzz fandangle.” My students enjoyed, “fandangle” most. Eventually the prairie dogs take all the fuzz off the tennis ball leading to a war! The battle raged on-“friend against friend, cousin against cousin, dog against dog.” THE GREAT FUZZ FRENZY makes children laugh and is currently on the 2009 Monarch Award Master List.
October 9, 2010
Julia loved this book! Neither of us have read many - if any - other books involving prairie dogs so that added to the excitement.
The story follows the prairie dogs as they find a tennis ball that has fallen into their hole after being dropped by a dog. No one knows what it is but after examination by a brave, young prairie dog they find that the green fuzz is actually pretty neat. They find more playful uses for this fuzz than one could count and all are displayed for the reader.
When a bully takes all the fuzz away (when he does this is an especially funny part of the story) he finds himself in more trouble than he bargained for.
The prarie dogs all come together to save the bully!
The very last page is predictable but oh so great.
The story follows the prairie dogs as they find a tennis ball that has fallen into their hole after being dropped by a dog. No one knows what it is but after examination by a brave, young prairie dog they find that the green fuzz is actually pretty neat. They find more playful uses for this fuzz than one could count and all are displayed for the reader.
When a bully takes all the fuzz away (when he does this is an especially funny part of the story) he finds himself in more trouble than he bargained for.
The prarie dogs all come together to save the bully!
The very last page is predictable but oh so great.
June 29, 2009
Alicia read this to me in the car while I ate my snack in the parking lot before we headed home from practicum. It has great word usage, including synonyms and onomatopoeia. It was also fun how some of the pages folded out and needed to be turned to be read.
June 8, 2010
This is a bit of an odd book. A tennis ball goes down a prairie dog hole and they get into a frenzy of fuzz. There's a subplot about the redemption of a bully and being kind to everyone, even if they aren't always kind to you. Our girls liked it, especially the pull-out pages.
February 3, 2013
Reread this with our first grade reading buddies this week and was surprised to see that I'd never recorded it in goodreads.
A great book about sharing and doing what's best when it's unpopular. The only thing that would improve this book is if the tennis ball fuzz was real:)
A great book about sharing and doing what's best when it's unpopular. The only thing that would improve this book is if the tennis ball fuzz was real:)
May 3, 2017
Pulled out an old favorite to share with my kids today. They loved it! The art is fantastic, with all sorts of cool little details embedded in the soil that makes up the prairie dog tunnels. Lots of visual humor. This is a great read aloud for getting your ham on.
April 26, 2020
I used to read this in my classroom during our community lesson but I feel like the US needs to hear it again after all these toilet paper issues... I just love this one so much! Reminds me of the star-bellied sneeches.
March 8, 2011
I love this book, and I use it with fifth graders as a mentor text to teach voice, alliteration, and word choice. Kids LOVE it when you use many funny voices for each prairie dog.
January 30, 2013
i love this book it is funny
March 6, 2013
Sweet story with wonderful illustrations.
October 17, 2017
Something for everyone.
August 26, 2020
delightful!
December 27, 2018
A colony of prairie dogs goes fuzz-crazy when a dog accidently drops their toy tennis ball into one of the holes. Fortunately, when all out war is declared clearer heads are able to remember other things are more important than fuzz!
A lot of this is pretty funny; the prairie dogs going crazy so quickly over fuzz, the creativity of the story, all good things! However, it contains one of my pet peeves, the precocious-always-right-child. At least this one is humble, so not as bad as the usual p.a.r.c., but it is still a thing and it means everything else in the story/book/illustrations has to be amazing or I will leave with a sour impression of the book. It almost made it, but only up to three stars.
Content notes: Implied "war" with no injuries, just yelling and everyone falls asleep from exhaustion afterward; some other animal peril, but everyone get's through un-injured.
November 17, 2019
This book has been one of my favorites for a long time. This book has themes of sharing and kindness. The realistic and colorful illustrations are so entertaining. The illustrations help add more detail and enjoyment to the text. The illustrations help show what the text means, rather than straight up telling the audience. Every time that I read this book, I notice more details in the illustrations because there is so much to look at. The words that the authors chose are so fun to read. Sometimes they rhyme, sometimes they are sounds, and sometimes they make up the dialogue. I would love to read this book to my class and do fun voices for each dog. It would be fun to talk about sharing after reading this book to younger kids, like kindergarten. It would be fun to hear how third graders read this book to practice fluctuation and fluency. I would make this book into a Reader’s Theatre play for my students to act out. There are so many possibilities with this book.
Read
October 13, 2020Summary:
This book was about a bunch of prairie dogs that found a tennis ball, and they became obsessed with the fuzz. When they did, other dogs came to see and take some of the fuzz until it was all gone. There were dogs that had fuzz and others that did not which ended up causing a huge fight. One of the prairie dogs stole all the fuzz while the others were asleep, and it got picked up by an eagle. The whole community had to work together to save the big, mean prairie dog that ended up being very nice and helpful.
Analysis:
I think this book was interesting. It was funny to read the story because you really never knew what was coming next. The art and the story were cute and interesting.
Classroom Ideas:
This book can be used as one to help children see the importance of sharing but knowing when to give up a toy because there is no reason to fight. I think it can also be used to encourage ways of using toys in creative ways to make other things.
This book was about a bunch of prairie dogs that found a tennis ball, and they became obsessed with the fuzz. When they did, other dogs came to see and take some of the fuzz until it was all gone. There were dogs that had fuzz and others that did not which ended up causing a huge fight. One of the prairie dogs stole all the fuzz while the others were asleep, and it got picked up by an eagle. The whole community had to work together to save the big, mean prairie dog that ended up being very nice and helpful.
Analysis:
I think this book was interesting. It was funny to read the story because you really never knew what was coming next. The art and the story were cute and interesting.
Classroom Ideas:
This book can be used as one to help children see the importance of sharing but knowing when to give up a toy because there is no reason to fight. I think it can also be used to encourage ways of using toys in creative ways to make other things.
December 7, 2020
it was badddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
May 26, 2021
Read May 18, 2021
Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 2nd
This book is very cute and has a lot of different aspects that i like. I like how there are foldouts and the orientation of the pages change a few times in the story. I also like the use of onomatopoeias throughout the book. I think it keeps it interesting to have so many sounds coming from all the different prairie dogs. I also think the storyline is great and different, which would be good to read to the children to mix things up. I would definitely use this book to have the children make predictions about what was coming next. I would also create a lesson based off this book to teach children about onomatopoeias.
Genre: Fiction
Grade Level: 2nd
This book is very cute and has a lot of different aspects that i like. I like how there are foldouts and the orientation of the pages change a few times in the story. I also like the use of onomatopoeias throughout the book. I think it keeps it interesting to have so many sounds coming from all the different prairie dogs. I also think the storyline is great and different, which would be good to read to the children to mix things up. I would definitely use this book to have the children make predictions about what was coming next. I would also create a lesson based off this book to teach children about onomatopoeias.
August 1, 2021
"They twisted it. Braided it. Danced, and paraded it.
It was a fuzz frenzy.
A fuzz fiesta.
A fuzz fandange.
The whole prairie was abuzz about fuzz.
Subtle alliterations, some rhyming and repetition. The perfect mix of playful language while also a story with some big ideas - what happens when we get distracted, perhaps greedy, what happens when we work together, what happens when we put what seems like a community member's weakness to work for the greater good. The large format size of the book and the big and beautiful illustrations are engaging for the audience. A lot of fun for a preK-1 read aloud.
It was a fuzz frenzy.
A fuzz fiesta.
A fuzz fandange.
The whole prairie was abuzz about fuzz.
Subtle alliterations, some rhyming and repetition. The perfect mix of playful language while also a story with some big ideas - what happens when we get distracted, perhaps greedy, what happens when we work together, what happens when we put what seems like a community member's weakness to work for the greater good. The large format size of the book and the big and beautiful illustrations are engaging for the audience. A lot of fun for a preK-1 read aloud.
June 23, 2020
Deep, deep down in their underground town, the prairie dogs live in harmony - until a mysterious, fluorescent, very fuzzy thing (otherwise known as a tennis ball) rolls down their hole. When the prairie dogs discover that they can pluck and pull the fuzz into fabulous fashions, their fear quickly turns to curiosity, then delight, then pure greed.
The frenzy that erupts threatens to tear apart the prairie-dog town forever. But when mean ol' Big Bark is kidnapped after taking all the fuzz for himself, the prairie dogs come to the rescue and remember the true meaning of community.
The frenzy that erupts threatens to tear apart the prairie-dog town forever. But when mean ol' Big Bark is kidnapped after taking all the fuzz for himself, the prairie dogs come to the rescue and remember the true meaning of community.
January 25, 2026
Fiction/ Humor
Kindergarten- 3rd Grade
Such a fun book! I really liked how with some of the pages flipped open and extended, giving the story an extra kick. I think this would be a great book to share at the beginning of the year to talk about sharing, in the story we see how the groundhogs are selfish with the fuzz they take off the ball and how it puts them in harms way, but they come together. This book has a lot of great lessons for how kids should act not just in the classroom but as individuals.
Kindergarten- 3rd Grade
Such a fun book! I really liked how with some of the pages flipped open and extended, giving the story an extra kick. I think this would be a great book to share at the beginning of the year to talk about sharing, in the story we see how the groundhogs are selfish with the fuzz they take off the ball and how it puts them in harms way, but they come together. This book has a lot of great lessons for how kids should act not just in the classroom but as individuals.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2017
This book is so cute! I love all of the alliterations, rhymes, and repetitions that occur throughout the entirety of it. I could definitely use that with my students to start practicing techniques in their creative writing. I also adore how some of the pages fold out to reveal more story. It's so cute and that would definitely get the students more involved in the read aloud. I would use this in my classroom often.
March 31, 2018
I chose this book after we discussed the Bill Martin Jr. Award in class. I thought that this book was a cute story about problem solving. The prairie dogs are very excited about the fuzzy tennis ball that falls down, but then it is a mess once the fuzz runs out. The problem solving skills of the prairie dogs is presented in a fun and intriguing way. The problem solving and friendship in this children's book warmed my heart!
August 15, 2022
We found this at our local library and it looked to be silly reading fun! Fold-out pages, prairie dogs, and a tennis ball - what's not to like?
Greed and meanness and fighting. That's what's not to like. Though it does resolve in the end, I stopped reading it to our toddler half-way in because she doesn't understand these concepts and was just picking up on the jealous and greedy behavior. Maybe we'll try it again when she's older, but it was worth skipping for now.
Greed and meanness and fighting. That's what's not to like. Though it does resolve in the end, I stopped reading it to our toddler half-way in because she doesn't understand these concepts and was just picking up on the jealous and greedy behavior. Maybe we'll try it again when she's older, but it was worth skipping for now.
September 12, 2017
The Great Fuzz Frenzy had a couple of challenges. First, the prairie dogs don't listen to Big Bark because they want the fuzz and then they learn to come together to save Big Bark. I think this teaches kids that sometimes you have to be the bigger person and save one of your own. I loved this book and the message it sends.
January 5, 2019
What happens when a bunch of prairie dogs come across a tennis ball that falls into their tunnels? They go bright green fuzz crazy.
Make sure to read the back of the book about the inspiration of this tale. The story is imaginative and funny with a little depth about appreciating others' unique skills and resolving conflicts. Animal lovers and those who like good what if stories should enjoy it.
Make sure to read the back of the book about the inspiration of this tale. The story is imaginative and funny with a little depth about appreciating others' unique skills and resolving conflicts. Animal lovers and those who like good what if stories should enjoy it.
March 9, 2022
Genre: modern fantasy, grades K+
This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite children's books of all time. I would consider this book to be the perfect read aloud! The different voices, characters and situations are all downright hilarious and totally enthralling. The illustrations are PERFECT full of lots of detail and expression. This book is guaranteed to be loved by all!!
This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite children's books of all time. I would consider this book to be the perfect read aloud! The different voices, characters and situations are all downright hilarious and totally enthralling. The illustrations are PERFECT full of lots of detail and expression. This book is guaranteed to be loved by all!!
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