Gooney Bird Greene Chapter Books

Who Is Gooney Bird Greene?

Gooney Bird Greene is a second grade student who likes to be “right smack in the middle of everything”—and  luckily for Gooney Bird, she usually is. She has a memorable sense of style that her classmates love, and so do readers. On her first day of school, Gooney Bird wears pajamas and cowboy boots and carries a dictionary and a lunch box. Later she pairs green stretch pants with a polka-dot T-shirt and a pink ballet tutu.

Gooney Bird is a born storyteller and tells fanciful stories that are somewhat reminiscent of Pippi Longstocking, except that unlike Pippi’s stories, Gooney Bird’s are always “absolutely true.” With her outlandish outfits and penchant for the spotlight, Gooney Bird transforms the atmosphere of Mrs. Pidgeon’s second grade class.

The Gooney Bird series is clever and humorous, and readers will love the recurring cast of characters, including Malcolm, Keiko, Felicia Ann, and many others. But Gooney Bird is undoubtedly the star of the show. As she says of herself, “I like to be absolutely the center of attention.” (Good news! She succeeds.)

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About the Books

The first book in the series, Gooney Bird Greene, introduces us to the spirited Gooney Bird Greene along with the rest of Mrs. Pidgeon’s second grade class. Gooney Bird’s classmates quickly realize that they’ve never met anyone quite like Gooney Bird, and through a series of “absolutely true” stories, Gooney Bird teaches the children all about storytelling and story structure. Readers are introduced to new words and concepts related to writing, including suspense, flashbacks, secondary characters, the parts of a story, and more.

In the second book in the series, Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, Mrs. Pidgeon’s class embarks on a study of the dictionary. With Gooney Bird as their leader, the class explores the importance of an expanded vocabulary and introduces the reader to a variety of interesting words from ennui to incognito.

The fifth book, Gooney Bird on the Map, introduces Mrs. Pidgeon’s class to the wonders of history and geography in the memorable way that only Gooney Bird can. In one episode, for example, Gooney Bird says, “I don’t think it’s fair that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln get all the attention” after pointing out that President William Henry Harrison also had a birthday in February.