Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare
Author: Patricia Polacco
Publisher: Philomel Books
I know there many people out there who have had a sibling that bothers, annoys, and makes fun of them constantly. I chose this book because children can relate to Patricia Polacco's predicament of having a sibling that she just can't stand. The descriptive details of her feelings towards her brother are hilarious and I know we can all relate to some of those choice words she said. This entertaining story delves into Polacco's personal experience with her brother and the big dare they did when they were children. She asks him to be a ballerina at her dance recital and he in turns tells her to skate on his ice hockey team. This dare was an experiment in who is better and what sport is harder to do. As far as siblings go, this type of dare has happened in my house.
This sibling relationship turns from rivalry to cohesiveness of respect and admiration they both have for each other deep down inside (which I think we all do for our siblings). The last paragraph of the book is heart warming and explains how they came up with their nicknames for each other out of this dare.
Patricia took her experiences and transformed them into this wonderful story. Her love of ballet and her brother, who really was a red head and played ice hockey, are the basis for this story. There true life tiffs come to life in this tale of a brother and a sister. Look at the inside flap of the book and see how she included family photos of her and her brother. Actual pictures of what happened in this story are shown.
This would be a book to read to 4th graders. As a teacher I would have students use their prior knowledge and creative writing to prepare a collage of a an experience that had with a sibling or a best friend. Under each picture, students can put captions depicting what was going on just like the Author did.
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