COMMON CORE

• Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
• Describe how words and phrases (e.g. regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem or song.
• Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
• Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.
• Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

School Library Journal

“Colorful, expressive illustrations support the excitement and anticipation created through the text. This story will fill a need in school libraries for books about spelling, vocabulary, sportsmanship, and school community-building. This delightful rhyming tale of one school’s spelling bee not only shares new vocabulary with readers but also shows that no one wins at everything. The finals come down to just three students: Cornelius, dubbed the 'genius,' who is out of the competition first; Ruby, a musically inclined, avid reader; and one baseball player known as 'The Slugger,' who tells the story of how he does not win the contest. The whole school learns about a new word, ‘sesquipedalian, when Ruby spells the word correctly and also defines it in a tie-breaking round. A note from the author indicates that the words in this competition were compiled from hundreds of spelling lists from across the country.”

LIBRARY MEDIA CONNECTION

“Fun-filled illustrations bring this book to life. This is a great addition to any library.”

Booklist

"…the story unfolds with ease, wit, and frequent baseball metaphors. The telling works exceptionally well…dynamic, imaginative illustrations, created using ink, gouache, and colored pencils in a quirky style that suits the story’s tone quite well. A lively picture book."

USA Today

"I confess: I was the worst speller in the history of P.S. 213 in Queens, N.Y., but I enjoyed and laughed my way through this epic spelling bee story. It matches 'smart Ruby' – who’s read 'at least ten zillion books, maybe more' – and the book’s male narrator, nicknamed 'The Slugger.' He has 'never struck out,' memorized word lists and boasts, 'I’d win this – NO doubt.' Told in clever rhyme, the suspense builds until author Rose borrows a word from Tom Chapin’s song 'Great Big Words'. Ruby not only knows how to spell 'sesquipedalian' (yes, it’s been spellchecked), but what it means: 'someone who uses big words. But, as Ruby reminds The Slugger, 'there’s always next year.'"
—Bob Minzesheimer

San Francisco Chronicle

Author Deborah Lee Rose borrows the rhythm and structure of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” to tell a spelling bee story starring a diverse cast of contestants, school staff and audience….Cute characters, lively rhymes, ample word lists and a good level of dramatic tension bolster the clear message that to succeed, you must understand the meaning of words – not just memorize spellings – and the key to that is reading.

Kirkus Reviews

Armstrong-Ellis’ illustrations—a complex product of gouache, ink and colored pencil—have sharp resolution and humorous touches…Rose’s “Casey at the Bat”–inflected verse is above average…