Morgan's Birthday

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Powell,
Ohio.

Morgan gets carried away with his birthday plans and in his excitement
invites the whole class to his party. Worst of all, he mistakenly
invites Aldeen, the Killer Godzilla of Grade 3, to come as well.
Although his mother says no to having the whole class attend, she
insists that he include Aldeen. Since Aldeen is coming, many of the
other kids decline Morgan’s invitation. Aldeen has terrorized them all
in one way or another over the years. As everyone anticipates, Aldeen
does make a mess of things at the party. But what Morgan sees is that
she doesn’t always intend to create havoc, and that what she really
wants is to be his friend.

The Morgan stories in the First Novels series are notable for Ted
Staunton’s lively and imaginative language and for his use of
exaggeration to create comical situations and scenes. The tension
between Morgan and Aldeen fuels the plot, which is full of hilarious
antics. The characters are coping with real-life situations, however
exaggerated they may be, and the message is that the right thing to do
is not always the easiest. Bill Slavin’s illustrations are equally
funny. This would be a fine choice for beginning chapter-book readers.
Recommended.