Book Uncle and Me (The Book Uncle trilogy, 1)

Got it as part of a book club for 2nd grade readers. My child had great difficulty staying motivated with the activity after going through this book. He was fine with the previous 8 books in the club.The story starts very slowly. By the end of chapter 5, the main story has not started. The writer tries to make it funny with phrases or details that may appeal to people familiar with India culture, but a lot of them aren't relevant to the main story. How is her Uncle's visit or the struggle about toothpaste relevant to the main story?While reading, I developed a lot of questions "why is the author writing about this part? Am I wasting time with so many minuscule details? How are they relevant?" I also don't find the mood of book, or the way the English language is used, uplifting or motivating. Sometimes I get a sense of negativity, and worry about my kids learning the behavior of the characters in the book. Do you really want young kids to talk about "have you lost your marbles"?The English language is used in a very different way from what I am used to. It took effort to decode even as an adult who spent 21 years in school. It could be close to the way English is used in India. I found myself spending more effort decoding the text than learning from it.

Bought this for our book club with 2 boys and a girl. It is a nice book for our group of first graders who are advanced readers as well. While it is an Indian story, the plot has a global appeal. There’s very few words that are specific to india. It’s a good book to teach about democracy, voting and the importance of community outreach. The language is simple and easily relatable to kids.

ordered for,a book report for,a 3rd grader. The story was good, but it took place in India and many things and words used were of that culture and confusing to US

This is a great story for young elementary readers! Strong leadership lessons for young girls.

My eight-year-old daughter really enjoyed this book. We read the first few chapters together, and then she read it on her own. She really enjoyed summarizing the plot for me and telling me all about the story.

I love this book.I can read this book over and over.The love of books is the best part.Book Uncle helps people of all.

"Right book for the right person for the right day" ~ I love this quote from this quirky bibliophile's book set in India. This story of a girl who borrows a book a day from "Book Uncle" on the corner of her neighborhood is full of wonderful nuggets of reading joy and wisdom and touches on politics and friendship as well. I adored it.-VERDICT: a book for book lovers of all ages. I'm not sure of kid appeal beyond my avid readers, but it could be a wonderful middle grade read aloud and a great cultural exposure to those unfamiliar with India, where this was originally published. The author was born in New Delhi and currently lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

A fun and very timely story about a girl in an apartment complex in a town in India. Yasmin loves getting free books from Book Uncle who shares his private library with the people of the city by means of a stall on the street near her apartment. When the town bureaucracy shuts down Book Uncle's stall, Yasmin makes it an election issue with the help of all the people in her school and apartment complex. A book about voting, friendship, and the love of books, originally published in India, this winsome story won the Scholastic Asian Book Award and works well as a slight step up from beginning chapter books. How lucky we are that English is one of India's languages -- may there be many more stories set in India!