Gooseberry Park

This book was a fun read! It took a chapter or so for us to get into it but in the end we all really enjoyed it. Highlg recommend reading with kindergarten age kids.

Will this ice ever stop? Will Kona ever get to Stumpy? Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant is about Stumpy a squirrel who is expecting babies. But soon after the babies are born an ice storm hits covering Gooseberry Park. Her best friend, Kona the dog, will risk the treacherous journey to save Stumpy and her babies. But is he too late or is Stumpy still alive. Stumpy is a squirrel who likes to collect things. Stumpy is nice and is not very clean. She also is funny and a little bit of a smart alek. In the book she changes because she starts off as a collecting mother soon to be, at the end she is a mother with a curiosity about Gwendolyn and other Hermit Crabs. I think Stumpy is really cool because she really cares for Kona, Gwendolyn a hermit crab, Murray a bat, and her three babies Top, Bottom, and Sparrow.

I read this book in 3rd grade for a reader's tournament at my library. I love this book! It is so wonderful! I want to go and read it again, please read this book.. you'll love it!

I am a second grade teacher. I read this chapter book every year to my students during story time. We all love it. The characters are wonderful, real and funny. I would suggest it to any teacher in the primary grades.

As a school librarian, I am often looking for entertaining books to read aloud to my students. After my nine year old son finished this book, I scooped it up to read to fourth grade students at my school. All the children loved Murray, Kona and Stumpy, and laughed out loud at the trials and tribulations of these three engaging characters. It was wonderful to see my students so involved with a story and its characters - I had a captive audience each library period! Bravo to Cynthia Rylant for creating such a wonderful story and such lovable (and funny!) characters.

I can hardly wait to read this book aloud at storytime. The humor was simple yet funny. Extremely fast read for the week before Christmas vacation.