F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C… fantastic. The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee is fantastic.
There were no spelling bees in my school or in my area growing up. I never stood on a stage in front of an audience and had my mind go blank when asked to spell a word. But I was (and am) a brilliant speller, like India Wimple. I feel like I missed out on an opportunity to show off (or stare blankly into the microphone).
Fortunately for India Wimple, Australia holds the Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee. Unfortunately for India Wimple, she has extreme S-T-A-G-E F-R-I-G-H-T!
India knows she would never do well at the Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee. She watches it on TV every time it takes place, and can spell every word that is asked. But she freezes when she’s in front of a crowd.
India’s family believes India would win the Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee. They are sure she can overcome her fears. So they recruit members of their small town of Yungabilla to help India in creative ways.
These plans work! India’s P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E help her advance through the early rounds of the Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee. Before she knows it, the Wimple family is piling into their van and traveling to Sydney for the finals.
In Sydney, India must battle her stage fright; face a bossy, spoiled competitor; conquer her shyness and be open to friendship; and set aside her worries about family troubles.
This is an E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T book for young readers—either to read aloud or for children to read to themselves. Kids will find it hard to put this book down. They will cheer for India, worry about India’s brother, and root for the spoiled competitor’s defeat.
I highly recommend this book, and am excited to be able to offer a copy to one lucky W-I-N-N-E-R! Click here to enter to win a copy of The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee.
Author Deborah Abela has written a number of children’s books. You can find them all at her website: www.deborahabela.com. She also offers Teacher’s Resources for many of her books, including The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee. I love Deb’s biography on her website—she sounds absolutely D-E-L-I-G-H-T-F-U-L:
Deb was born very short and had funny ears, but that didn’t stop her being a very smily baby. When she grew up, she was still short, a bit clumsy and not very brave, which may explain why she writes books about spies, ghosts, soccer legends and children living in a flooded city, battling sea monsters and sneaker waves.
Deb’s family never had a lot of money, but every week her mum would buy a Little Golden Book at the supermarket for 40 cents, until slowly Deb had her own library of books. Some of her favourite books at school were The Lorax and Professor Branestawm.
Deb was always an adventurous kid and lived in her head a lot. It was there she went on brave adventures as she swung from the swings in the park pretending she was dangling from planes. She once even jumped off the garage roof thinking if she ran fast enough she could make it all the way to the pool. It wasn’t a happy ending.
She loved school, especially English and drama. She was in the debating team, on various sports teams where she tried her hardest not to get trampled and even became school captain. After becoming a teacher, Deb went to Africa in search of adventure and found herself caught in a desert sandstorm, harassed by monkeys and thrown in jail … twice!
After three years she came home, went back to uni to study Communications and became the writer/producer of a national kids’ TV show called Cheez TV, where she wrote about everything from llamas to bunny jumping and how astronauts go to the toilet in outer space. Hmm …
Enjoy The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee! Many thanks to Ms. Abela and Jabberwocky for providing a copy of the book for my review, as well as for providing a book for the G-I-V-E-A-W-A-Y. CLICK HERE to enter!
Have you read any great books lately?
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