Busybody Nora

Last updated
Busybody Nora
Johanna Hurwitz - Busybody Nora.png
First edition
Author Johanna Hurwitz
IllustratorSusan Jeschke
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Chapter
Realistic fiction
Publisher William Morrow & Co.
Publication date
1976
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages64 pp
ISBN 0-688-22057-6

Busybody Nora is a children's book written by Johanna Hurwitz and illustrated by Susan Jeschke. It was first published in 1976.

Contents

It was Hurwitz's first book and was an early chapter book. Her daughter Naomi was the inspiration for Nora, and her son Ben was the inspiration for Teddy. [1]

On Accelerated Reader, the level of the story is 4.1 (blue color), has a lexile measure of 630L [2] and is recommended for seven- to ten-year-olds. It has since become a popular children's library book [3] and is also used for school lessons. [4] [5]

The book is made up of six stories about a six-year-old girl called Nora, her young brother Teddy, and her parents who live in a New York apartment block.

Plot

The protagonist, Nora, is a girl who lives in an apartment building of about 200 people in New York with her little brother Teddy and her parents. Although she has lived there all her life, she doesn't know all the residents' names so she asks everyone she meets what their name is and receives the moniker of 'Busybody'. One time Nora accidentally becomes a babysitter for a day and later she and Teddy prepare for their dad's birthday. Another day her grandparents visit and her grandfather talks about how he knew Jack from the beanstalk tale. Finally Nora arranges for a building party as a way to persuade one of the resident's daughters, who lives in Ohio, that New York is a safe and friendly place for her mother to live.

Reception

Publishers Weekly states that Busybody Nora is 'Six joyous stories ... will make six-year-old Nora and her little brother the favorite fiction friends of all readers, any age.' [6]

Related Research Articles

Karen S. Hesse is an American author of children's literature and literature for young adults, often with historical settings. She won the Newbery Medal for Out of the Dust (1997).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Pope Osborne</span> American childrens writer

Mary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, sometimes for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, with her first book being published in 1982. She would go on to write a variety of other kinds of children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will.

<i>Gregor the Overlander</i> 2003 book by Suzanne Collins

Gregor the Overlander is a children's epic fantasy novel. The book was written by Suzanne Collins and was published in 2003 as the first book of The Underland Chronicles. It was received well by critics, and was listed as one of New York Public Library's 100 Books for Reading and Sharing. It was featured by National Public Radio in 2005. Scholastic has rated the book's "grade level equivalent" as 4.9 and the book's lexile score as 630L, making it reading-level-appropriate for the average fourth or fifth grader.

<i>Noisy Nora</i> Childrens picture book about a mouse named Nora

Noisy Nora is a 1973 children's picture book by Rosemary Wells. It is about a mouse called Nora who likes to make lots of noise.

<i>Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane</i> 2004 book by Suzanne Collins

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane is the second book in Suzanne Collins's children's novel series The Underland Chronicles. Published in 2004, the novel contains elements of high fantasy. The novel focuses on a prophecy mentioned at the end of Gregor the Overlander which the Underlanders believe requires the protagonist Gregor to hunt down and kill an evil white rat known as the "Bane". It is told in third person.

<i>Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods</i> 2005 book by Suzanne Collins

Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods is an epic fantasy children's novel by Suzanne Collins. It is the third book in The Underland Chronicles, and was first published by Scholastic in 2005. The novel takes place a few months after the events of the preceding book, in the same subterranean world known as the Underland. In this installment, the young protagonist Gregor is once again recruited by the Underland's inhabitants, this time to help cure a rapidly-spreading plague.

Phoebe Gilman was a Canadian-American children's book author and illustrator. Her books were notable for their strong lead female characters. Her book Something from Nothing, adapted from an old Yiddish tale, won the 1993 Ruth Schwartz Award for best children's book, and was later adapted for television. Born in The Bronx, New York, where she lived her first years, she later lived in Europe, Israel, and finally settled in Canada in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillian Hoban</span> American writer

Lillian Hoban was an American illustrator and children's writer best known for picture books created with her husband Russell Hoban. According to OCLC, she has published 326 works in 1,401 publications in 11 languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Draper</span> American childrens writer and educator

Sharon Mills Draper is an American children's writer, professional educator, and the 1997 National Teacher of the Year. She is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for books about the young and adolescent African-American experience. She is known for her Hazelwood and Jericho series, Copper Sun,Double Dutch, Out of My Mind and Romiette and Julio.

<i>So B. It</i> 2004 novel by Sarah Weeks

So B. It is a children's novel by Sarah Weeks, released In 2007. It received awards in Illinois and Kansas. The book recounts the story of a young girl's relationship with her disabled mother, her quest to learn more about her family, and her desire to discover the truth.

A chapter book is a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10. Unlike picture books for beginning readers, a chapter book tells the story primarily through prose rather than pictures. Unlike books for advanced readers, chapter books contain plentiful illustrations. The name refers to the fact that the stories are usually divided into short chapters, which provide readers with opportunities to stop and resume reading if their attention spans are not long enough to finish the book in one sitting. Chapter books are usually works of fiction of moderate length and complexity.

<i>No Coins, Please</i>

No Coins, Please is a 1984 children's novel by Gordon Korman. The book is recommended for grades 6-8, and 820L on the Lexile measure.

Johanna Hurwitz is an American author of more than sixty children's books. She has sold millions of books in many different languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lexile</span> Educational tool for measuring readability level

The Lexile Framework for Reading is an educational tool that uses a measure called a Lexile to match readers with books, articles and other leveled reading resources. Readers and books are assigned a score on the Lexile scale, in which lower scores reflect easier readability for books and lower reading ability for readers. The Lexile framework uses quantitative methods, based on individual words and sentence lengths, rather than qualitative analysis of content to produce scores. Accordingly, the scores for texts do not reflect factors such as multiple levels of meaning or maturity of themes. Hence, the United States Common Core State Standards recommend the use of alternative, qualitative methods for selecting books for students at grade 6 and over. In the US, Lexile measures are reported from reading programs and assessments annually. Thus, about half of U.S. students in grades 3rd through 12th receive a Lexile measure each year. In addition to being used in schools in all 50 states, Lexile measures are also used outside of the United States.

<i>The Hunger Games</i> Young adult book series by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel set 64 years before the original.

Polar the Titanic Bear is a children's book written by Margaretta "Daisy" Corning Spedden. Spedden was an American heiress who survived the sinking of the Titanic, and her account of her family's trip and the eventual disaster, written as a tale to amuse her seven-year-old son, was published about 45 years after her death. The story is told from the point of view of a Teddy Bear.

Jane Kurtz is an American writer of more than thirty picture books, middle-grade novels, nonfiction, ready-to-reads, and books for educators. A member of the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in children's and adult literature, Kurtz is an international advocate for literacy and writing. She was also part of a small group of volunteers who organized the not-for-profit organization, Ethiopia Reads, which has established more than seventy libraries for children, published books, and built four schools in rural Ethiopia.

Ruchoma Shain (6 December 1914 – 16 March 2013) was an American-born rebbetzin, English teacher, and author. She is best known for her first book, All for the Boss (1984), a biography of her father, Yaakov Yosef Herman, which she wrote in her late sixties. In detailing her father's life, she also describes Orthodox Jewish life in America in the early 1900s. All for the Boss became one of the all-time best-sellers for Feldheim Publishers, and Shain's stories and observations are quoted by numerous authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nic Stone</span> American writer

Andrea Nicole Livingstone, known as Nic Stone, is an American author of young adult fiction and middle grade fiction, best known for her debut novel Dear Martin and her middle grade debut, Clean Getaway. Her novels have been translated into six languages.

Vega Jane is a series of four young adult fantasy novels written by American author David Baldacci. It follows the adventures of a teenage girl as she uncovers secrets about the fictional village of Wormwood and faces the dangers of the 'Quag', a forest filled with beasts. The series was first published in the US in 2014 by Scholastic Press. The Finisher and The Keeper spent a collective 41 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Middle Grade E-books with The Finisher peaking at number one, and The Keeper peaking at number three.

References

  1. "Biography Johanna Hurwitz". www.scholastic.com. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  2. "Busybody Nora". www.lexile.com. MetaMetrics. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  3. Busybody Nora. www.worldcat.org. OCLC   319841695 . Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  4. "A Literature Unit for Busybody Nora". www.brighthubeducation.com. Bright Hub Education. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  5. "Second Grade Guided Reading Plan-BR" (PDF). www.mcs.k12.in.us. Manchester Community Schools. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  6. "Busybody Nora". www.publishersweekly.com. PWxyz, LLC. Retrieved 19 March 2015.