Children’s Fiction of 2007: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies

Jessie and Evan Treski are brother and sister. Evan is good at making friends, talking to people, and understanding feelings. Jessie is good at math and planning and organizing. When their normally close and supportive sibling relationship turns sour, they take their dispute and make . . . lemonade.

Math and marketing combine in The Lemonade Warto produce a story that teaches many lessons. But it’s never didactic. The book is successful on so many levels. It can be a story about a brother and sister who learn that they need each other. Or it can be a story about a brother and a sister who learn that they can do things for which they’ve always depended on each other for help. Or it can be a story about how to succeed in business, and about what mistakes to avoid. Or it can be a story about misunderstanding and envy and unkindness and love and reconciliation.

This book presents a great picture of a brother and sister working through jealousy and pride issues in their relationship. It’s also a good book to recommend to math teachers who want to incorporate literature across the curriculum. Or to math nerds who need to realize that there are other important skills that they might need to hone. Or to kids who are not so good at math who need to know that their talents are valuable, too. Or to kids or adults who are interested in kids going into business for themselves. I can think of lots of people who might like this book.

The Lemonade War has its own website with games, news, author information, and teacher helps.

Some other classic books that combine business, mathematics, and story:

The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill.

The Seventeenth Swap by Eloise Jarvis McGraw.

Any other suggestions?

8 thoughts on “Children’s Fiction of 2007: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies

  1. Oh my, Toothpaste Millionaire and the Seventeenth Swap are both two of the most favourite books my eldest and I ever read together. Great stuff!

  2. I’ll be on the look out for this book to read with the children – thank you for the review. I have just started ‘Swift Rivers’ by Cornelia Meigs with the children and when I searched came across you blog. I was wondering if you had resources to go along with this great book, or if you just developed your own. I’d like to do some vocabulary words and additional activites with the children and usually the web is a great source for enrichment ideas, but so far I am finding very little. Any hints would be appreciated.

  3. Heather,

    I first read this book with the kids because it is a part of the Sonlight (fourth grade, I think) curriculum. I don’t really have any resources to go along with the book, other than the discussion questions that Sonlight provides.

  4. Thank you – I’ll have fun making up my own ‘discusion questions’ I guess! My husband is helping a bit with homeschooling this week and I was looking for the ‘easy way out’ – just handing him something someone else has put together! He doesn’t remember reading the book, but I loved it as a girl in grade 5 or 6. We’ll muddle through!

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