Penelope Crumb Series

Penelope “channels the quirkiness of Ramona Quimby!” –Shelf Awareness

Penelope Crumb is not having a very good week. First she accidentally comes to school dressed as an elephant (dress like an animal day is next week), and then in gym class she’s forced to square dance. With a boy who is known as Lippy Gordon because of how sweaty his lip is. All the time. Penelope is mortified. And then is extra mortified when she discovers that Lippy doesn’t want to dance with her either!

When Grandpa tells Penelope that he sings to the moon when he’s having trouble, Penelope grabs onto this plan. But sometimes you need more than the moon to fix things.

Another sweet and funny Penelope book. Equal parts humor and heart, this is a character not to be missed. Perfect for fans of Ramona Quimby, Judy Moody and Clementine, and for fans who have just outgrown Junie B. Jones and Katie Kazoo.
 

Praise for PENELOPE CRUMB IS MAD AT THE MOON:

“Stout’s series about this tween’s worries, insecurities, quirkiness and wit deserves a space in library collections looking for precocious, independent girl characters who might not be perfect but are something else: realistic.”–School Library Journal

Praise for the PENELOPE CRUMB series:

* “Penelope Crumb… channels the quirkiness of Ramona Quimby and the detective skills of Cam Jansen… Penelope will delight children and parents alike.”–Shelf Awareness, starred review
 
“Penelope is an intrepid heroine… kids who have outgrown the Junie B. Jones series will enjoy Penelope’s equally comical narrative style.”–The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
 
“Readers will root for and relate to this fresh-voiced young heroine who joins the likes of Ramona, Judy Moody and Clementine.”–Kirkus Reviews

“Kids who have outgrown the Junie B. Jones series will enjoy Penelope’s equally comical narrative style.” —BCCB

In the third book in this hilarious, endearing series, all Penelope Crumb wants is to be someone’s “Favorite.” She’d thought she was her Grandpa Felix’s Favorite, and her mom’s Favorite, and her friend Patsy Cline’s Favorite, but she’s starting to realize that maybe she’s not. And it’s all The Bad Luck’s fault. So since Penelope’s a superb artist, she comes up with a plan—she’s going to be the boss of the mural her school is making at the Portwaller’s Blessed Home for the Aged, which will make her into everyone’s Favorite.  And maybe it’ll frighten The Bad Luck away. But things don’t quite go as planned there either. And when an old woman named Nila promises to help Penelope find her luck so everyone will like her again, things get even worse! In the end, Penelope finds out that friendships aren’t about luck—and that it doesn’t matter if you’re anyone’s Favorite when there are tons of people who love you. In a book that’s equal parts humor and heart, it’s clear to see why young readers will count Penelope as one of their Favorites.

Praise for PENELOPE CRUMB

* “Penelope Crumb . . . channels the quirkiness of Ramona Quimby and the detective skills of Cam Jansen . . . Penelope will delight children and parents alike.”—Shelf Awareness, starred review
 
“Penelope is an intrepid heroine with a unique and frequently amusing narrative voice . . . kids who have outgrown the Junie B. Jones series will enjoy Penelope’s equally comical narrative style.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
 
“Readers will root for and relate to this fresh-voiced young heroine who joins the likes of Ramona, Judy Moody and Clementine.”—Kirkus Reviews
 

Penelope Crumb’s best friend Patsy Cline Roberta Watson is becoming best friends with another girl in class, so Penelope decides she needs to win her back.  Compliments and presents fail—and Penelope is afraid she’ll lose Patsy Cline forever, so she decides to swipe Patsy’s necklace and start a secret museum to remember all the people she cares about, in case they leave her too.  But stealing turns out not to be the best plan, when Grandpa Felix calls the police about his missing camera, forcing Penelope to confess. Now she’s lost both Patsy Cline AND her museum.  But in the end she makes a huge personal sacrifice to repair her friendship with Patsy and finds out that drawing pictures—what she likes to do best!—is a way to make a personal museum that doesn’t involve any sort of stealing.

Penelope Crumb would LOVE Ramona Quimby! And might even name her eyebrow “Marge.”

Penelope Crumb is no ordinary fourth grader. She carries around a red toolbox that used to belong to her father (who’s been dead since Penelope was a baby), she keeps a list for the government chronicling the many ways in which her brother is turning into an alien, she helps her home-schooled neighbor Littie with her many projects–including the construction of a marshmallow helmet–and also, she can draw pretty much anything. So when her best friend Patsy has to draw a picture of Penelope for class, she attributes the big nose Patsy gives her to Patsy’s poor art skills. But then Penelope finds out that it’s true! She does have a big nose! Just like her Grandpa Felix, who’s been gone from her life since before she can remember. What follows is a sweet and funny story–with tons of heart and hijinks– about Penelope finding her grandpa and using her big nose–and his big nose–to make her family whole again.

Praise for PENELOPE CRUMB

“Fans of Clementine and Ramona will cheer as new friend Penelope finds what she is looking for.”–Kirkus Reviews

“Like such popular fourth-grade narrators as Amber Brown and Lucy Rose, Penelope Crumb has definite ideas and big dreams . . . ultimately, Penelope’s desires to connect with her relatives (even the 14-year-old brother who has changed so much she considers him an alien) bring the Crumb family together in a sweet and satisfying way.”–Booklist