Rip-Roaring Russell

Riverside Kids #5

by Johanna Hurwitz

In a newly illustrated version of a popular chapter book, five-year-old Russell's adventures involve his nursery school, his baby sister, and his friends in his apartment building. An ALA Notable Book. Reprint.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Johanna Hurwitz is an American author of more than sixty children's books. She has sold millions of books in many different languages.

Reviews

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highlights from this book:

Unless I missed it, I think the first time we actually learn Nora and Teddy's last name - which is Resnick - is in the first chapter of this book. I found it kind of curious that the Michaels kids have had last names throughout the series, but Nora and Teddy, who up until now have been the stars, had no last name in their own books.

I tried to sort out the timeline at the start of this book, but had trouble. Elisa is born in New Neighbors for Nora, when Nora is six, but now Russell is almost five and Elisa is only a few months old. I thought there was a greater difference in age between Nora and Russell than that, but I am not great at math so it's possible it does work out. Nora is identified as a seven-year-old now, so the only one whose age might be a little bit off is Elisa's. I expected this book to follow immediately after SuperDuper Teddy, but I'm not entirely sure that it does.

My favorite part of this book is when Russell tries to stay up to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on TV, but falls asleep and misses the whole show. It reminded me of that feeling of excitement of getting to stay up past normal bedtime and finding it so difficult to keep my eyes open.
There really weren't any dated references in this book. It felt pretty contemporary, aside from the fact that my library's copy of the book smelled old and was falling apart.

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the writing was good, my children just didn't connect with this book. The main character, Russell, is only 4 as the story begins and even though "Rip-Roaring Russell" is a chapter book, my kids considered it babyish.

[Teddy Pridemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was funny because Russell wanted to stay home from school and he was treated like a baby.

[Rylan Rosa]

The book Rip-Roaring Russell is an amazing book/ story written by Johanna Hurwitz. This is a realistic fiction book that is so interesting that will make you keep reading because to me it seems like you could imagine that you were the little kid named Russell and it may remind you when you were small when you were with your mom and you needed help and she was there for you. Also, reminds you when you where in grade school the good times where adults helped and you felt more loved. This book is about this kid named Russell who complains about everything that happens to him. I will recommend this book to all my friends and realistic loving readers.

[Kim Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kids enjoyed this one way more than I did! I found it tedious.