Too Many Jellybeans Isn't Good
Review of Angeline Jellybean, by Crystalee Calderwood
Angeline is a very special girl. She loves jellybeans. On Easter, she dreams of green jellybeans. On Halloween, she goes trick or treating for yellow jellybeans – but her neighbour gives her yellow string beans. On Christmas, she asks Santa for nothing but red jellybeans, but she gets red apples instead. Before going to school, she searches for her stash of orange jellybeans... of course, her mom always reminds her to have an orange instead. "Blah!" says Angeline each time. It's tiresome when your mom and everybody else want to keep you so healthy!
On her birthday she finally gets a whole bag of jellybeans... and you know what? She eats them all, with not very happy results, as the reader may well suspect.
This is a very cute picture book with a fun, whimsical storyline. It's written in simple verse and uses alliteration to engage young readers into the language. There's a bit of Easter, Halloween, Christmas and birthdays in it. The illustrations are colorful and no doubt will be loved by little book lovers, especially young girls.
About the Author:
Crystalee Calderwood’s first love was reading. She could read before she entered kindergarten. Writing was, naturally, the next step. For many years, Crystalee focused on poetry. It helped her get through her rocky teen years, and she honed her skills as an English major at Penn State Altoona. In 2006, Crystalee got accepted into the MFA program of her dreams at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA. At Chatham, Crystalee began to think maybe poetry was no longer for her.
“It felt like they were putting me into a box,” she says. “Everything was about ‘Is this going to sale?’ I was expected to write like everyone else, and I felt like I couldn’t please anyone.”
During her very first semester, Crystalee took a class called the Craft of Writing for Children and Adolescents. Writing for kids wasn’t an instant passion for her. In fact, it took a picture book writing class a year later to seal the deal.
Crystalee picked up writing for children as one of her emphases, but also continued in the poetry program. Crystalee is now a graduate of Chatham University and the author of her first picture book, Angeline Jellybean. She is a full time Literacy*AmeriCorps member who teaches computer skills to job-seeking adults. She is currently working on two YA novels and a handful of picture books.
About the Illustrator:
Stephen Macquignon primarily works in the medium of pen and ink and color digitally. He is a monthly contributor for Stories for Children Magazine and has worked with Director Michael Sporn of Michael Sporn Animation Inc. Angeline Jellybean is his first book for 4RV Publishing.
Purchase information:
Angeline Jellybean
Crystalee Calderwood
ISBN: 978-09797513-8-7
Copyright 2008
Paperback, 24 pages
Angeline Jellybean
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