Don’t Feed the Geckos!: The Carver Chronicles, Book 3

Buy all three, it'll make more sense. It was fun to follow the story as my child read them.

What a wonderful read with a heart warmer of a family storyline. Absolutely ideal and enjoyable illustration to go with. Insisted my grandchildren read as well and have had good reports back from both 11 yr old boy and 12 yr old girl. Puts a perspective on the life being lived by so many elementary level educators students and patents. Can't help but finish this book.

Great series for early elementary schoolers!

As demonstrated in her latest book “Don’t Feed the Geckos!”, Karen English understands the mentality and emotions of the 6 to 9 year old target group. The annoying little sister, the disruption of having to share your bedroom with a cousin, and feeling as if your father likes your cousin better than you are issues the protagonist, Carlos must deal with.Laura Freeman’s illustrations enhance the story and add to this book’s appeal. Even though it is not photo-realistic, the artwork has depth and dimension; it is not cartoon-like. There are enough pictures included to satisfy readers who are not yet ready for books without illustrations, but not so many that the reading is not challenging.Characters throughout “Don’t Feed the Geckos!” are likeable and, for the target reader group, easy to relate to. They will understand the emotions, the fears, and the jealousies experienced by the characters. Karen English does an excellent job capturing the language and expressions of primary school aged children, as well as of the ephemeral nature of five-year old sisters’ interests. In addition to expressing Carlos’ initial impression of his cousin “…so far Bernardo is a disappointment …”, the recognition of Carlos’ feelings about his father’s interest in Bernardo and their shared passion for athletics is spot on. “…he wonders why he even plays soccer …it’s because of Papi. He wants to please Papi …” The understanding Carlos’ mother displays over different developments is realistic.There were a number of things I liked about “Don’t Feed the Geckos!”. Carlos’ family was close-knit and loving; they took pride in their Latin heritage and culture. When Bernardo's mother was having a rough time, Carlos’ parents did not hesitate and allowed Bernardo to stay with them until she arrived. I liked that Carlos' aspirations were lofty and that he understood education was the means by which he would achieve his dreams. I liked that, even though he was jealous of the attention Bernardo received from his father, Carlos did not tattle on his cousin. When Carlos mistakenly thought Bernardo had done something to his geckos’ food supply, Carlos apologized after he learned the truth. I liked that Carlos and Bernardo recognized one another’s skills, academic and athletic respectively, and helped each other improve in those areas. Their teacher’s comment about books was applicable to the cousins’ relationship. “…Stick with them …they can start out boring and then get good …”The one factor that caused me to rate this book as a four-star read was the conversation Carlos overheard. His teacher called him a “knucklehead” when talking with another teacher. While this may be realistic, most children in the target age group do not know teachers sometimes speak disparagingly of less stellar students. Although her words motivated Carlos to perform better, they could also have caused him to give up. In the text, he remembers his mother’s belief “…words can break a heart that won’t ever fully heal …” I would have preferred Carlos’ motivation stemmed from a source other than his teacher’s negative comments.Overall, solid writing and a good story that highlights positive aspects of the characters and the situations make this a worthwhile read.

This is a cute chapter book for beginning independent readers. Carlos goes to Carver Elementary school and has worked hard to become a good student. He tries hard to play soccer to please his dad, but really wants to do something involving animals. He has an ant farm and 3 geckos, but if he gets 100 on 5 spelling tests in a row, his dad will get him a butterfly habitat and his room will be his oasis. When he finds out that his cousin Bernardo is moving in with them and will be sharing his room, he is not happy but tries to make the best of it. Bernardo is somewhat of a disappointment to Bernardo. He gets the top bunk, is awesome at soccer so steals his father's affection, does not do well in school and tries to feed the geckos popcorn. What other trouble will he cause and how will it affect Carlos. When Carlos finally realizes that Bernardo is not doing things to hurt him but is trying to fit in and get over the loss of his father, he feels bad and tries to make amends. A story with a good message about school and thinking about others. I would certainly recommend this book to school libraries, teachers for their class library and students reading beginning chapter books.I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

English seems to "get" the emotional lives of the typical 6-9 year old (annoyance at sharing rooms with a cousin, dealing with a little sister, thinking that one of your parents likes another kid better) - but the messages in it are a little clunky and heavy-handed. I read this with my almost-5 year old, and he could tell me what the moral was before we got to the end. He did like the artwork and felt like he could relate to Carlos.The family is an important element in the book, and there is obvious pride in their ethnic heritage (Latino). Kids from non-traditional families or singe parents might have a slightly harder time relating to this. Bernardo never seems to acknowledge the errors he makes, or to change his behavior. It would have been nice if the author had Carlos' parents address that with him. My son noticed and asked why Bernardo didn't make amends for his actions, which prompted a good discussion.

Author's suggested reading level: 1-4 Grade.Ideal for: 2nd Grade.This is a great story about two cousins. The book is appropriately illustrated - with more words and fewer pictures. Some sentence structures may be difficult for 1st graders. For example:❝ He had come into the office to see if he could call his mother and tell her to bring the lunch he'd forgotten (typical knucklehead behavior), and he was standing right behind the two teachers as he waited his turn to speak to Mrs. Marker, the office lady. ❞Since this is a story regarding two boys and pet geckos, I think boys would likely enjoy this story more because they could probably relate to this more than the girls.

Really good book and enjoyable