Fortunately by Remy Charlip

There is a simple pattern here of fortunately followed by unfortunately. Young readers will quickly anticipate each page turn but the actual outcome of each incident is sure to be a surprise and yes the ending - spoiler alert - is also a surprise - it is in fact a surprise party with a setting you could never have anticipated.  

Fortunately, Ned was invited to a surprise party.
Unfortunately, the party was a thousand miles away.
Fortunately, a friend loaned Ned an airplane.
Unfortunately, the motor exploded.
Fortunately, there was a parachute in the airplane.
Unfortunately, there was a hole in the parachute.

This pattern is not new. Here are a couple of other books that follow this format:

Here are some other books that end with a birthday party:

Fortunately was published over sixty years ago in 1964 but oddly I had not heard of it until recently when someone on Instagram made this puzzling statement. (Note most of the content from this US Teacher or Teacher-Librarian is behind a paywall). 

This book is a masterclass in mercenary page turns

If you are reading this blog and you can explain this idea or this terminology - mercenary page turn - I would love to hear your ideas. I did comment on her post and ask for an explanation but I didn't get an answer. Kirkus say: This book is more of a word game for group use than a story.

I did find this book listed as still available here in Australia also here. 

You can see Betsy Bird reading Fortunately here. 

Remy Charlip was an American illustrator. He died in 2012 and wrote or illustrated over 40 books. 

I am Tama, Lucky Cat: A Japanese Legend by Wendy Henrichs illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi

Bookseller blurb: Under the shadow of the white-capped mountains of Japan, a kind and gentle monk takes in a white cat with unusual markings and names him Tama, Lucky Cat. Tama watches as his new master teaches Buddha's ways to poor farmers, caring for their welfare while ignoring his own empty stomach. Tama truly earns his nickname -- "Lucky Cat," when during a powerful thunderstorm, he sees a towering warlord on a white horse. The cat beckons the warrior forward just as a large branch crashes to the ground and lands right where the warlord had previously stood. In gratitude to Tama, the warlord lavishes gifts on the monk's poor temple.

Here is the website for Yoshiko Jaeggi. You can see inside I am Tama, Lucky Cat here. 

You see these little waving cats in Asian restaurants and shops but I never thought to wonder about the story connection. Many years ago our school welcomed a delegation of educators from China. I immediately thought of the waving cat and I involved the children in making or colouring them for our library foyer notice board BUT just days before the visit I discovered the waving cat is a from Japan. I quickly had to pull down the display and make some sweet little purple origami pandas.  The visit went well (no one was offended by my error) although this visit was strange. It was all part of a proposal from the school Principal to partner with a school in China - this idea never eventuated.

Wikipedia tells me: Because of its popularity in Chinese communities (including Chinatowns) the maneki-neko is frequently mistaken for being Chinese in origin rather than Japanese, and is therefore sometimes referred to as a "Chinese lucky cat" or jīnmāo ("golden cat"). ... The figurines are often displayed in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, dry cleaners, laundromats, bars, casinos, hotels, nightclubs, and other businesses, generally near the entrance,[1] as well as households.[2] Some maneki-neko are equipped with a mechanical paw which slowly moves back and forth.

I found a couple of other books that explore this story - there are four different versions of the folktale from Japan (check the Wikipedia link above).

The Adventures of a Girl called Bicycle by Christina Uss

 

This book has so many ingredients that I enjoy in a good Middle Grade book:

• It's a page turner - there is just the right amount of tension
• Our hero is a young orphan of unknown heritage on a mission
• She must rely on her own determination, good sense and luck
• There is a map and a journey in this case right across the whole of the USA
• The journey contains hazards but as a reader you are sure the main character will make it!
• The food eaten on the journey, at times, is delicious and mentioned often enough that I was not worried that Bicycle would be hungry. She also has a comfortable tent to sleep in.
• Friendship is at the heart of this book
• There are wonderful inventions that are mentioned and the bicycles in this book are characters too and one has a collection of utterly perfect gadgets that I guarantee will amaze you

A little girl turns up at the monastery. She is wearing a t-shirt with the word bicycle. Now you know how she got her name.

The monastery is a very different place. The monks who live there are mostly silent. Actually that should say Mostly Silent. There is, however, one person who lives there who is allowed to talk - Sister Wanda Magdalena. She is a retired nun who works at the monastery doing all the "things that require a lot more talking than silence, like answering phones, making sure deliveries got where they were supposed to go, scheduling washing machines repairmen."  Sister Wanda previously belonged to the order of Nearly-Silent-Nuns but now that this little girl has turned up she will need to take care of her.

"If you don't live near a Mostly Silent Monastery, you may wonder what they are. The Mostly Silent Monasteries are part of an old an venerated order, founded centuries ago by a monk named Bob. One day, Bob observed that the human body is made with two ears but only one mouth. He felt this meant that we humans are supposed to listen more than we speak, so he vowed to be Mostly Silent and dedicated his life to listening to others."

Young Bicycle grows up in the monastery and she learns to be a good listener but Sister Wanda worries that Bicycle has no friends her own age so she organises to send the young girl to the Friendship Factory. Bicycle does not want to do this. She just wants to enjoy riding her own bike called Clunk. She also loves to read magazines about bicycles and watch movies about bicycle races. Watching these she discovers a famous bike rider named Zbigniew Sienkiewica or Zbig. He is from Poland but the exciting news is that he is coming to America. He will be at the blessing of the bicycles in San Fransisco on 8th July. Bicycle lives in Washington DC.  It is now late April. Bicycle has her bike, $154.20 in cash, her bike Clunk and a map of her route right across the country. Will she make it in time to meet her hero? What will Sister Wanda do? 

How did I come to buy this book?  A large chain store was having a book sale. I am always determined to find a book at these sales. I know books that mention the Texas Blue Bonnet award are usually splendid. Kirkus gave this book a star. AND most importantly I really like the cover. It is designed by Jonathan Bean.

There are a wealth of additional resources to use with this book (you could consider it as a class read aloud) here on the Texas Blue Bonnet page. Here is a list of  bicycle books curated by Christina Uss. This is her debut novel,

I won't explain this but here are the eight sacred words the silent monks can use:

yes, no, maybe, help, now, later, sleep (and) sandwich.

Publisher Blurb: Introverted Bicycle has lived most of her life at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C. When her guardian, Sister Wanda, announces that Bicycle is going to attend a camp where she will learn to make friends, Bicycle says no way and sets off on her bike for San Francisco to meet her idol, a famous cyclist, certain he will be her first true friend. Who knew that a ghost would haunt her handlebars and that she would have to contend with bike-hating dogs, a bike-loving horse, bike-crushing pigs, and a mysterious lady dressed in black. Over the uphills and downhills of her journey, Bicycle discovers that friends are not such a bad thing to have after all, and that a dozen cookies really can solve most problems.

Readers will eagerly join Bicycle and “pedal headfirst” into this terrific adventure, which is chock-full of heart and humor. Kirkus Star

The better news is that the book is also a hoot and a half. Filled to brimming with a good smattering of healthy quirk, it’s a quixotic quest book, a paean to the American landscape, and there are pigs. What else could you want? ... I can’t wait to read this one to my daughter when she’s just a little bit older. Elizabeth Bird School Library Journal

About the Texas Blue Bonnet Award:

The Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA) reading program was established in 1979 to encourage Texas children to read more books, explore a variety of current books, develop powers of discrimination, and identify their favourite books. How does a book become a Bluebonnet book?...  In January, students vote for their favourite title. The author of the book receiving the most votes wins the Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA) which is presented at the Texas Bluebonnet Award presentation held in the spring. You can see previous master list titles here. And here is the 2022-23 Master List. 

One more thing - you might like to investigate these Polish words. The first part here is what Bicycle intended to say:

Cześć, jak się masz
Mam na imię rower i przebyłem długą drogę, aby cię poznać

But what she says is: 

Chcesz włożyć zebrę do nosa?

Fortune Falls by Jenny Goebel

In Fortune Falls jade costs more than diamonds and so do four-leaf clovers, horseshoes and rabbits' feet.  Birthday wishes should not be wasted and the child care center is called Pot-of-Gold.

Luck - good and bad - this is an elusive thing.  Don't step on a crack, don't walk under a ladder, look for four leaf clovers and of course an apple a day will keep the doctor away.

All of these ideas about staying lucky are included in Fortune Falls and I did enjoy this premise.  The idea that your propensity to good luck or bad luck could determine your future path in life was also a good one but could have been explored in a little more depth especially the final idea - the one that the story had hinted at all along - that we make our own luck by our attitude.

In Fortune Falls every life incident is attributed to luck.  Sadie seems to be plagued by bad luck and her brand of bad luck has been catastrophic for the family perhaps causing the death of her father when is path is crossed by a black cat.

Sadie is about to turn twelve and inauspiciously this will happen on a Friday and yes the date of her birthday is the 13th. When students turn 12 they have to participate in a Spring Luck Test.  This takes them from Undetermined to either Lucky or Unlucky and then determines which school they can attend.

The description of life for Unluckies is quite telling :

"I remembered Dad taking me on a trip downtown ... 'These are the luckless that have given up.' We drove by windows that had been broken out with baseball bats, ... On the streets were people with unkempt hair and beards and expressionless faces.  The worst were those staring off into space as they sat immobile on curbs or behind blowing curtains,"

The actual Spring Luck Test was intriguing.  The school hall is set up with a number of games of chance - a roulette spinner, a dice game and a ball drop game.  You might be able to use this scene with a class and make connections with the maths strand of chance and data.

The Spelling Bee is also a chapter that could be used with a class if you are preparing for a bee at school.  Compare Sadie's words with those given to the lucky but awful Felicia.

dearth gem
debauchery sugar
treacherous lilac
mercurial diary

Fans of books about dogs will also enjoy Fortune Falls.  Sadie has a very special dog :

"Wink makes people feel uncomfortable.  She makes them especially uncomfortable when her missing eye takes them by surprise. I'll be taking Wink for a walk and someone will come up to her at just the right angle, but when she turns to greet the person - her tail wagging so hard it shakes her entire backside - giving whoever it is a full view of her one-eyed, pirate-y face, the stranger usually flips."

Here is a detailed review which includes some of the issues I have raised here.

You might also enjoy A snicker of Magic and Three times lucky.

A few harrowing episodes, including graveyard escapades, a lost dog, skeletal remains, and a near-calamity facing down an oncoming train, help Sadie and readers realize she’s not all that unlucky. 

This girl’s got gumption