Reviews

Leroy Ninker Saddles Up by Kate DiCamillo

lpip's review against another edition

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4.0

Just when we thought we couldn’t love Deckawoo Drive anymore! Plenty of illustrations, fun dialogue, and some of our very favorite children’s book characters. Kate DiCamillo is queen.

bak8382's review against another edition

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4.0

This is the first book in the Mercy Watson spin off series, and it features reformed thief Leroy Ninker. He's always wanted to be a cowboy, and now he has his chance when he acquires a horse. This is no ordinary horse though, Maybelline is a special horse.

This is another of my daughter's favorites as both an audiobook and a read aloud title.

petite_fairy's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

marypmcg's review against another edition

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5.0

What makes a cowboy? The hat? The boots? The horse? Or is it something more?

turrean's review against another edition

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3.0

Since I hadn't read a Mercy Watson book in a while, I didn't recognize the main character of this one, and so blinked a bit at the apparently random mention of his former life as a thief, which seemed to have nothing to do with the story. In retrospect I liked the comment; plenty of kids have people in their lives with similar stories, and don't they have dreams, too? But I fear it was there purely to hint at a connection to the other series.

The other baffling thing I couldn't dismiss was the fact that at the end of the story, LeRoy still hadn't figured out a proper barn and food source for his horse. Perhaps on Deckawoo Drive there's never going to be thunder and lightning again?

One thing I did love was the horse's insatiable appetite for flattery, and Leroy's unexpected skill at providing it.

solitarysoul's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 I quite liked this but it didn't keep the attention of the kids I read to like Mercy Watson did; likely due to the lack of as many pictures and lack of colour. I'd happily keep reading the Deckawoo Drive series.

librariann's review against another edition

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3.0

I'm sorry, are we really glorifying former burglars now? IN CHILDRENS LITERATURE? Someone get out the banninator.

(Kidding)

Will and I read through the entire Mercy Watson series and he found them SO DELIGHTFUL, so we decided to delve into Deckawoo Drive. While this one is ok (and DOES end with toast), I gotta say, I found it pretty boring.

(Except for the part where he decides that the best horse name is Tornado. That *is* the best horse name.)

beecheralyson's review against another edition

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4.0

Nice connection to Mercy Watson and for similar age audience.

readingthroughtheages's review against another edition

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5.0

This is why Kate DiCamillo wins awards. This is why she is the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.
She knows kids. She knows how to make them fall in love with books. She knows how to push their thinking and give them new vocabulary.
This book is a winner.

ekmyers616's review against another edition

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Might be a good short read aloud. Lots of weird vocab that would make it a tough independent read for most of my students. Cute story though.