Most of us, at one time or another, acquire a friend who is different, who is perhaps a little odd. They don't seem to fit in anywhere and they can even be rather embarrassing at times. This splendid title by David A. Adler tells the story of one boy's strange new friend who ends up giving Danny a lot more than he expected.
Danny’s Doodles: The Jellybean Experiment
Danny’s Doodles: The Jellybean Experiment
David A. Adler
Fiction
For ages 7 to 9
Sourcebooks, 2013, 978-1-4022-8721-3
Danny Cohen’s new classmate and friend, Calvin Waffle, is
a rather odd boy. Last week he followed Danny everywhere, noting down who Danny
spoke to and how long they talked. Calvin has explained that he needs the
information he is gathering for an experiment that he is putting together.
According to him, statistics are “the backbone of science.” Danny is not
convinced, and he is keen to know what the experiment is, but Danny is not
telling. Yet.
On Monday of
this week Calvin puts jelly beans in Danny’s pockets and Danny is going to have
to put up with being followed around again. Apparently last week was the
“control” week for the experiment, and
this week the experiment begins in earnest. Calvin still isn’t willing to
explain what he is doing because he does not want to “skew” his results.
Calvin insists
that he keep his distance from Danny, which presents a problem. Calvin’s mother
has baked a cake and Calvin is supposed to bring some friends over to eat it.
So far Danny is Calvin’s only friend and his odd behavior (shadowing Danny) is
making it impossible for Calvin to make more friends.
Then Danny’s
teacher announces that the students are going to do reports in pairs. Danny is
paired with Annie, and Calvin is paired with Douglas. Douglas is worried that
Calvin won’t do his share of the work and Danny tells him that he is sure
Calvin would not do such a thing. In an effort to help Calvin out, Danny
suggests that they all go to Calvin’s house on the weekend. The experiment will
be over and they can eat all the jellybeans.
When the four
children get together on Sunday at Calvin’s house they finally find out what
Calvin’s experiment was all about, and Danny begins to understand that though
Calvin Waffle certainly is a “weird” person, he also is a pretty interesting
one. He is also a friend, and sometimes you put up with friends even when they
are being strange.
In this
wonderful story we see how friendships can grow between rather unlikely people.
The author beautifully develops his characters, making them both colorful and
credible. The problems children have as they try to ‘fit in’ are explored with
both humor and sensitivity.
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