This is such a delightful story! I read it aloud to my youngest sister recently, and enjoyed it just as much this time as when I heard Mom read it aloud several years ago. This is the kind of book that is enjoyed by all ages. Tomie’s observations of his childhood are both funny, captivating, and, in general, a beautiful picture of a loving family working together for a common goal. There isn’t much in these stories that’s unusual, but somehow, Tomie manages to bring you into his young world and convey a sense of wholesome, sometimes whimsical musings interspersed with everyday life. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and my youngest sister did, too—we finished the story in record time! Highly recommended as a gift; this is a treasure to have on any (young or old!) child’s shelf. ( )

I enjoyed this. Opening with a hurricane. The house on the hill that keeps getting steeper. Kindergarten is a waste of time because you don't get to learn to read yet.

Yes, it's episodic, but that's only natural for memoirs, especially of early childhood.

The wonderful pictures make it short. And it's a delight. But still, I don't know if I want to read more in the series.

Read for Newbery Club in the group Children's Books. ( )

Reads like Tomie is sitting with a group of children, sharing pieces of his childhood. ( )

I'm reading this series along with my 9-year-old son and we loved the first one! Such a charming look into Tomie's childhood. Tomie's writing is wonderful as always and offers today's children a view of childhood in another time. ( )

Tomie's family starts building their new house at 26 Fairmount Avenue in 1938, just as a hurricane hits town, starting off a busy, crazy year.

Tomie introduces his family (including Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs) and recounts his adventures in the year 1938-1939, as his family builds a new house to move into. There is a hurricane, the first full-length animated movie in theaters (Sleeping Beauty - "Mr. Walt Disney didn't read the story right!"), and a rocky beginning to kindergarten. Gentle, old-fashioned, funny, and relatable. Young Tomie reminds me a bit of Ramona Quimby, with a touch of Fred Savage in The Princess Bride.

"When do we learn to read?" I asked.
"Oh, we don't learn to read in kindergarten. We learn to read next year, in first grade."
"Fine," I said. "I'll be back next year." And I walked right out fo the school and all the way home. (p. 35) ( )

Children's author-illustrator Tomie De Paola describes his experiences at home and in school when he was a boy.

A cute story of a year in the life of the author as a child, when his family was busy trying to build a new home. Fun and funny and sweet, with illustrations to match. ( )

Tomie is a young boy who's family is changing house. This book is a little window into the months preceding the move and all the big things that happen to him and the family.

I like this book because the vocabulary is controlled and the sentences are simple. It's written from the boy's point of view so kids may appreciate that. The events are an interesting time-capsule from the 1930s. ( )

26 Fairmount Avenue

Summary:
Tomie,his brother Buddy, and their parent lived at Columbus Avenue in 1938. The family was building a new house on 26 Fairmount Avenue. Tomie liked talking with his grandparents. Tomie was excited to attend Kindergarten because he wanted to learn how to read by himself, but the teacher told Tomie that he wouldn't be taught to read until first grade, so Tomie went home. Before it was time to move into the new house Tomie, and Buddy spent the day with their uncle Charles. When they arrived at the newly finished house Tomie pushed the doorbell and Tomie's dad opened the door and invited them into the house.

Reaction:
I liked the story, I thought it covered the struggles of a young child. I thought it showed in some ways how a child thought during the process of attending a movie and during the process of moving into a new house. The setting was a apartment and the character of Tomie was like a young child who loved his family an seen himself as helpful to his parents.

Extension Ideas:
1.The story could teach students how to respect their family.
2.The story can show students the possible struggles of building a house.
3.The story can show students how long it takes to build a house and move
into the house.

This is the true story of Tomie DePaola's life growing up. His house on 26 Farimont Ave. is not an easy one to build as storms and floods damage the house. The DePaola's go through everyday problems such as death, theater trips, moving, and friendships. I use this book as part of my author study on Tomie DePaola's life.
http://www.tomie.com/ ( )

3rd-5th
This book would be good for students of this age group because by this age almost every student is going to know what it is like to move into a new apartment or house. Also, Tomie enjoys going to the movies, hanging out with his friends, and getting toys for Christmas just like any other elementary school student. ( )

Summary: Tomie's family starts building their new house at 26 Fairmount Avenue in 1938, just as a hurricane hits town, starting off a busy, crazy year. Tomie has many adventures all his own
Personal Reaction: Great example of writing about your life. Simply written and easy to follow. Focuses on family too.
Classroom Extension: A great example of an autobiography. Use this book as a read-aloud to introduce the concept of writing from memories and experiences ( )

A great story which is really more of a series of anecdotes. Although it lacks a strong central theme (the house itself mostly remains in the background), the events are amusing enough to make me want to read more about Tomie. ( )

Summary:
Tomie, growing up in a depression era Connecticut, experiences many adventures as he and his family build their first house. A major hurricane hit Connecticut (declared the worse natural disaster in Conn. history). There were a lot of problems and difficulties the family faced. It includes a lot of the emotional aspects of growing up in a young boys perspective.

Personal Reaction:
An easy read for early chapter book readers. I enjoyed this book and it goes to show that even with the many difficulties we face in life good things can still come from the hard times.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Research the Hurricane of 1938 that hit Connecticut and the damage that it caused.
2. Students will make a family tree of their own family on poster board.

Summary: A story about a little boy about the age of 4 and his family life. The boy and his family were going to move into a new house where the address is 26 Fairmount Avenue. The book talks about the problems the family faced trying to get their new house ready.

Personal Reaction: Life in a child’s eyes is different from the way adults see things, Kids find life so fun and exciting especially in events like getting a new house.

Classroom Extension:
1. Tell students to learn their address and quote it aloud to the teacher.
2. Look up information about hurricanes on the internet as a class.

Great biography about Tomie DePaola's childhood. He tells sweet stories about growing up in his childhood home and shares memories about his quirky family members. The audiobook is read by him and gives another dimension to his storytelling. Good for grades 2-5.

It's a nice book. My children enjoyed it because they are familiar with DePaola's books, and their interest appeared largely because of their prior knowledge, and not because the book was particularly excellent. DePaola includes so many fascinating details, he relates child emotions and thoughts that children will relate to, I was surprised to find myself indifferent to the book.

The author/illustrator takes personal stories and anecdotes from his childhood and relates them in a chapter book. This would be a great way to introduce students to the concept of writing about themselves and their experiences. ( )

Summary: This story walks through key events in the life of author Tomie dePaola when he was a young boy. It centers around the idea that the family is trying to build a new home (at 26 Fairmount Avenue), but due to many delays, it takes about a year to complete. Over this time, Tomie goes to the first day of kindergarten and decides not to start school til the next year when he'll get to learn to read, gets to use chalk to draw his extended family members all over the not yet plastered walls of the new home, sees Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and is outraged that it is not like the book in many ways, eats laxatives thinking they are chocolate, and much more. In the end, the family celebrates being able to finally move into the new home.
Genre Critique: This is an excellent example of an autobiography for children because it takes fun anecdotes from the author's childhood and recreates them into a chapter book kids will find both enjoyable and educational.
Point of View: This book was interesting in that it was written in first person from the perspective of Tomie, who is the author. Thus, we see how he viewed the world as a child, as well as getting a bit of added thoughts of the grown man Tomie reflecting on his younger years.
Media: ink and watercolor ( )

In my quest to read all Newbery award books, I'm incredibly impressed by the depth of some, and then, others are supremely disappointing. This 2000 honor book is at the top of the disappointing category.

It is a cute, corny, nonsensical book about Tomie DePaola who was four years old when the big hurricane of 1938 hit Meriden, Connecticut. He loves his family and friends. His father is a barber and he mother seems perfect.

He moves from an apartment to 26 Fairmount Avenue and goes to kindergarten.

End of story! Why this is an award-winning book is beyond my comprehension.

Not recommended...

Negative Star category!

Tomie dePaola's books are usually delightful - This one was just ever so slightly off - maybe because I wanted to know more about the people other than dePaola's immediate family - but the ending was just not very satisfying -- and there are so many loose ends including a school which has to be driven to in the 1st chapter but is just down the block in Chapter 5 - Nana upstairs is very important in Chapter Two -- but her death is simply mentioned two chapters later.

I guess the author and editors figured that kids wouldn't pick up on the discrepancies. But when this Nana read it to her grandkids, they absolutely did. ( )

Story of life at home and school that author experienced.

This book is the first of a series of novels of the same name. It recounts the life of Tomie DePaola as a young boy and the love and relationships he had with his family. The illustrations of the book are in black and white and add life to the family members described by Tomie throughout the book.

This book was an autobiography of Tomie DePaola's life from 1938-1940. His family was in the process of having their house built on 26 Fairmont Avenue when a hurricane hit. They had many issues while this house was being build. The city would come out and scrap away the dirt and their house kept going higher up on a hill. Finally, their house was built and he was very happy. The book also goes through his experiences with his grandma's and going to see Snow White in theatres.

This is a cute book. I loved that when he used a "big" word he would explain what he meant in terms that a child could understand more clearly. I can relate with Tomie when he talked about his grandma's because before I lost my grandma I was very close to her.

In the classroom, I would have a discussion with the students about the difference between a biography and an autobiography. Once they understood the difference, they would write a short autobiography about a year or two of their lives. Also, in the book Tomie drew pictures of his family so I would have the students draw pictures of their family. The pictures wouldn't have to be professional of course but they need to attempt to draw them proportionally and no stick figures. ( )