Bibsy is having a difficult time in school as her teacher feels she tends to go on so. While doing a science project she has the opportunity to share her feelings with her teacher about the teacher's classroom management style.

BIBSY CROSS AND THE BAD APPLE by Liz Garton Scanlon introduces readers to exuberant third grader Bibsy. She tends to be too chatty in class, no matter how hard she tries to rein herself in. This causes Mrs. Stumper, her teacher, to move her apple that’s displayed on the class tree on the bulletin board from the tree to the ground beneath it. When Bibsy’s science fair project goes awry, things get even worse when Mrs. Stumper goes even farther and punches a hole in Bibsy’s apple. Bibsy is crushed about the hole and about having to bring it home for her parents to sign. In the end, Bibsy finds the courage to tell Mrs. Stumper how she feels about having a hole punched in her apple.

I appreciated how Bibsy stood up for herself with her teacher, showing readers the importance of self-advocacy. Young readers will relate to many of the events in this book, whether they’ve been in a class with a student like Bibsy, had a teacher that they feel doesn’t like them, or even are chatty themselves like Bibsy is. With the short, verse-style structure of the chapters, its familiar school themes and supportive illustrations, the book will be accessible to and engaging for early elementary readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing an eARC of the book with me.

Bibsy Cross and the Bad Apple is a great start to a new early chapter book series. Bibsy does not get along with her third grade teacher. Her teacher thinks Bibsy talks too much but sometimes Bibsy just can't hold her words in. When this happens, the paper apple with Bibsy's name on it gets taken from the tree on the classroom wall, where all students have bright red apples with their names on them, and dropped down into the "dirt" at the bottom of the tree. When Bibsy's science fair project is damaged in the rain and she has an emotional outburst, the worst happens and her apple not only comes off the tree, but her teacher punches a hole in it. Apples that have hole punches must be taken home and signed by a parent. Bibsy must resolve her science fair problem and her relationship woes with her teacher. Bibsy is a wonderful, realistic character. She's bright and bubbly but not perfect. If you are looking for some realistic fiction for new readers this series could be a good choice.

Bibsy Cross and The Bad Apple by Liz Garton Scanlon is a fun short chapter book. Biby is a happy, eight-year-old, who loves everything, especially school. This year, Bibsy has Ms. Stumper for her teacher. Ms Stumper thinks that Bibsy talks too much. Ms. Stumper uses a classroom management system where each student's name is on an apple. The apples are on a tree. When a student misbehaves, his/her apple is taken off the tree. If a student continues to cause problems, Ms. Stumper punches a hole into his/her apple. When day, when Bibsy talks about her science project too much, Ms. Stumper punches a hole in Bibsy’s apple which devastates Bibsy. Will Bibsy be able to complete her science project and stay out of trouble?
Read to find out.

Bibsy Cross and the Bad Apple is the second installment in this series. Children who are ready for beginning chapter books would enjoy reading the fun stories about Bibsy. The books would be great to read out loud in primary classrooms.

In the vein of Ramona and Clementine, Bibsy Cross is the latest spunky chapter-book heroine who is always unfortunately misunderstood. Bibsy's school frustrations will be relatable for many kids, and Scanlon does a good job of bringing the kid stakes (getting a hole punched in your behavior apple! having to get it signed by a parent!) to life. I did find the verse style a little odd for such a young age group--not sure if it will be a help or a hindrance to developing readers, but as an adult I found it a little jarring. I look forward to sharing this one with my chapter-book readers.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's through NetGalley.
Simple to follow text for mid-elementary level readers. Bibsy has so much to share and wants to learn more and more. However, she struggles to keep from oversharing during class. This leads to conflicts with her teacher and to her apple being moved to the ground below the apple tree board most days. Readers will relate to her feelings about this and her wanting her teacher to like her. When the Science Fair project begins, Bibsy is able to work with her best friend in the other third grade room. We see her feel even worse when she sees how that teacher rewards students with gold stars. At the end, their project is well received and Bibsy feels supported by her teacher and others.
The author makes a solid statement for supporting students rather than negative feedback. I appreciate this being told by a narrator who shares all that Bibsy is feeling and offers the possibility for changes at the end. Looking forward to reading more in this series.

This book was so cute and I think that it will help many little girls feel seen in these pages. This book does a great job of showing just how much adults words can effect children. I think that this book is one that will help young girls see that while their inquisitive nature is a good thing and that they are able to do great things. I can not wait to share this book with my daughters as they get bigger.

I enjoyed this first book about Bibsy Cross. Bibsy is a third grader who is curious and has a lot to say, which her teacher does not appreciate. In this book, she creates a science fair project with her friend Natia and learns to speak up for herself and express how her teacher made her feel, I enjoyed this sweet read. I hope to read more about Bibsy across in the future.

While this book is not list worthy, it does have at least a little bit of merit to it. Bibsy is very Junnie B Jones esc. she's just a third grader trying to understand why she keeps getting in trouble with her teacher. I think other kids could relate to Bibsy in this case as they might feel they are being singled out by adults. I really appreciated that at the end of the book, Bibsy seemed to show her teacher how much the apple system hurt her and her classmates.

Bibsy is a fun character who is in the third grade. The text in this is very short, and would make a really good first novel for a first grade student; it reminded me a bit of B is for Betsy. There is a lot of repetitive language that will help an emerging reader along, like Bibsy's "a stone too far" and "regular pegular". Her feeling that her teacher doesn't like her will resonate with many young readers. The illustrations are great. This was just a little too young for middle school students, even though I have many who need this level of text complexity.

This was such a good read. My daughter really enjoyed it.
She remembers many of the things Bibsy did in Pre-K.

Thank you to Random House Children's and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

It's hard to judge this in full without completed illustrations. However, while the text is innovative for being in verse - unusual for a young reader - there is no need to structure the story this way. It is not poetic and could have been as effective in prose form. Also, while I liked the character of Bibsy - she reminds me of myself and some of the kids with whom I work - the teacher's harsh attitude toward Bibsy's intellectual engagement was unnecessarily off-putting with no meaningful shift in her treatment of the main character. Finally, the scientific validity of the apple experiment near the end strikes me as questionable.

A chapter book in verse about Bibsy and her teacher who thinks Bibsy is too much. Bibsy is just excited to share about her science fair project but her teacher makes her feel discouraged.

A cute book with an outgoing protagonist!

This is the cutest book! This would be great for a read aloud in a classroom or just have at home. The characters are very sweet.

I couldn't get the illustrations to load correctly, but I really liked this story. I felt that Bibsy learns a lot about herself. I don't think that teacher is totally fair. I don't think she should punish kids for being curious, but I understand that asking so many questions and going on and on can be disruptive.
I liked Bibsy a lot and her curious nature. I liked their science fair project too.
Cute beginning to a new series.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.