Stella Endicott and the Anything-is-Possible Poem
Tales from Deckawoo Drive, Volume Five
illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
Candlewick Press, June 9, 2020
Early chapter book, ISBN 978-1536201802
Stella Endicott loves her teacher, Miss Liliana, and she is thrilled when the class is assigned to write a poem. Stella crafts a beautiful poem about Mercy Watson, the pig who lives next door—a poem complete with a metaphor and full of curiosity and courage. But Horace Broom, Stella’s irritating classmate, insists that Stella’s poem is full of lies and that pigs do not live in houses. And when Stella and Horace get into a shouting match in the classroom, Miss Liliana banishes them to the principal’s office. Will the two of them find a way to turn this opposite-of-a-poem day around? In the newest spirited outing in the Deckawoo Drive series by Kate DiCamillo, anything is possible—even a friendship with a boy deemed to be (metaphorically speaking) an overblown balloon.
Read the Reviews
The academic setting, imaginative Stella, and brown-noser Horace combine for an ideal opportunity for DiCamillo to exercise her characteristic wordplay…An adorable story that teaches readers that things—and people—are not always what they seem. (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)
DiCamillo regularly uses advanced vocabulary and seamlessly weaves word definitions into the plot. With metaphor as a primary concept, this text could easily be used in a classroom curriculum. Van Dusen’s illustrations are delightful as always, and enhance the story with their humorous and exaggerated quality. An engaging and high quality book for young students that will appeal to reluctant and advanced readers alike. (School Library Journal)
This fifth entry in the series (Leroy Ninker Saddles Up, rev. 9/14, and sequels) stars young Stella Endicott…As ever, Van Dusen’s frequent illustrations add so much, capturing with apt exaggeration all the drama, humor, and emotions of Stella’s adventure- and metaphor-filled day. (The Horn Book)