Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Author: Judy Blume
Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing
Copyright Date: 1972
Number of Pages: 120
Reading Level: Ages 4-8






Summary: This book is about a boy named Peter Hatcher. At the beginning of the book Peter tells us that his biggest problem is his little brother Fudge. Throughout the whole book Fudge is ruining his brothers life. Peter expresses the jealousy because Fudge is treated differently. Their parents give Fudge anything that he wants to keep him from throwing a tantrum. Also, Peter repeatedly is asked by his parents to do things so that his brother will follow him. Peter feels kind of honored at first but he quickly begins to loath having to do things for his brother. Peter has to watch his brother, stand on his head so that his brother will eat, wear ugly shoes so that Fudge will want the shoes, and even ride a little boys bike so that Fudge will want to ride it for a commercial. Fudge also gets Peter in trouble, ruins his fathers chance of helping a client, and causes all sorts of problems. However, the worst thing that Fudge does is at the very end. Fudge eats Peter's pet turtle, Dribble. Peter's parents become obsessive with Fudge's welfare and he is immediately rushed to the hospital. In the chaos it seems as though everyone has forgotten about Peter's poor turtle. However, in the end Peter's father comes home with a big present, Peter assumes that it is for fudge. Then his Dad says that he understands how Peter must feel because it was his pet. Peter tells his Dad that he doesn't want another turtle.   Instead of another turtle Peter is given a Dog, one that will grow and definitely be too big for Fudge to swallow.

Personal Response: This book was absolutely hilarious at parts. The relationship between Peter and his family was absolutely believable. However, this story was seemingly meaningless because there wasn't an underlying theme.

Potential Problems: I could not find any potential problems in this book.

Recommended To: I would recommend this book to a child that has a younger or older sibling or is a middle child that sometimes feels neglected by their parents.