The Cool Crazy Crickets Club

Beginning readers will jump to join this cool crazy club!

What do you do on a wide-open summer day, sitting on a porch swing with your best friend? Leo and Marcus decide, on this particular sunny morning, that they're going to start a club. But you can't have a two-person club. Luckily, along come Miranda and Phoebe, who make it four. And soon, everyone is very busy with important club business. What will the club's name be? Where will their clubhouse be? Who will be the club's mascot? And most important, what KIND of club is it? Meet the Cool Crazy Crickets, a friendly bunch of neighborhood kids. With loads of colorful pictures by Paul Meisel, here's a perfect first chapter book for every kid who loves nothing better than hanging out with friends on a summer day.

David Elliott says, "Before I began writing THE COOL CRAZY CRICKETS, I spent a lot of time eavesdropping on my son and his friends."He advises readers who want to writers to "develop the fine art of eavesdropping. Stare into space like you are thinking about something really important. Then, slowly lean in the direction of the people you are spying on. Try not to get caught. Some people don't like it."

Paul Meisel spends his days drawing in his "clubhouse" in Newtown, Connecticut, where he lives with his wife, three sons, and the "mascot," Rusty, a Brittany spaniel.