Practice Makes Perfect for Rotten Ralph: A Rotten Ralph Rotten Reader

By Jack Gantos

Book Overview

It's carnival time for Ralph, Sarah, and Percy, Ralph's cousin Ralph is ready to play games and win prizes. But perfect Percy has been practicing. He keeps beating Ralph and wooing Sarah with his winnings. Fed up with losing, Ralph decides to cheat his way to victory . . . until Sarah puts a stop to it. "School Library Journal" hails "Rotten Ralph Helps Out," the first Rotten Ralph Rotten Reader, as a "wise choice for youngsters making the transition from picture books to chapter books." In this feisty new adventure, the world's favorite come-back cat shows Percy and Sarah that all his practice at losing can make him a winner in the end.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374363560
• ISBN13: 9780374363567
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.5" x 6.5"
• Age Range: 6 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Grades 1 to 3

Customer Reviews

The Return of Rotten Ralph!

Rotten Ralph the mischievous cat returns in another great story in the series. When a touring Faire comes to town, super-confident (and lazy?) Ralph loses all the booth games to his cousin Percy, and Percy gives the prizes to the beloved Sarah. Ralph cheats (he's sometimes clever, sometimes just downright rotten) and wins some games, but he eventually owns up to his dishonesty. After making it up to the booth operators, Ralph finally--and honestly--wins a prize at the dunking booth.I love the Rotten Ralph series, especially for Nicole Rubel's rich, color-saturated illustrations. She uses beautiful, unusual colors (sometimes recalling Matisse), and her sense of fun complements Jack Gantos' underplayed humor. Gantos wrote a great line for Sarah on the last page: "'Oh, Ralphie,' she said. 'You don't need any practice at being my winner.'" 48 pages divided into four small chapters. The jacket informs us that "an animated series based on...Rotten Ralph is now appearing on television in over 20 countries. In France, Ralph is known as Ralph la Racaille (Ralph the Rascal." I recommend also Nicole Rubel's great "Cyrano the Bear."