The catalyst for The Great Fuzz Frenzy was when Janet Steven’s dog Violet dropped a tennis ball down a prairie-dog hole one day.  Stevens began wondering what the Prairie-dogs might think of this mysterious object… and a story was born.

This 2009 Monarch Award nominee begins and ends on the end-pages so don’t miss them!  Large amounts of alliteration and conversational text make this a fun read aloud.  There are three pages which must be turned vertically to read.  Two of these also fold out – adding literal depth to the depiction of underground prairie-dog town!  Quirky phrases such as  “-it was war!  War between the fuzzes and the fuzz-nots” and “they came, they saw, they picked” make this as enjoyable for the adult reader as for the listeners. 

I explained about prairie-dogs and prairie-dog towns before beginning the book since most Illinois students have not encountered them.  We also discussed the meaning of the word “frenzy”.  I find that students understand meaning more completely when given some examples.  For frenzy I used the example of mom hanging up the phone and yelling, “company will be here in 10 minutes…we have to clean!”  I also said it would be a frenzy if I tossed up five pieces of candy and said to the class, “Everyone get a piece if you can!”  That certainly would be a frenzy and the students understood this.
A funny book, my students all laughed at the line, “Naked as a plucked chicken.”  We all know –  there is just something about the word naked and/or underwear that crack up primary students. Janet Steven’s incredibly detailed and funny illustrations make this unforgettable.  (My favorite is the fuzz as it ends up on the eagle as a federal style wig.)

It is fun to play up the fickle crowd mentality portrayed by the prairie-dog masses in the book.  As the crowd attempts to catch Big Bark falling from the eagle talons I actually moved the book to reflect the words, “They ran left, then right, then left.” 

On a more serious note, this book could be used to discuss crowd mentality with older students.  The recent Black Friday stampede at an East Coast Wal-Mart comes to mind.  A fatal frenzy indeed.