Franklin and the Stopwatch.

Ellie Contursi is a children’s librarian at the London Public Library.

Loveable Franklin is back in action—and this time he’s desperate for another pet. The little turtle already owns a goldfish and takes very good care of it, but it just isn’t enough anymore. When Franklin and Bear are swimming in the pond one day, Franklin gets his wish. He finds a lonely duckling and brings it home, hiding it from his parents, of course. Franklin sets out to make a nice habitat for his new pet, complete with pool, dirt, and bugs. When he leaves his friend alone, Franklin returns to find a huge disaster in his room. After disaster strikes twice, Franklin’s secret is revealed to his parents, who convince him that ducks belong in the wild. In the nick of time, a duck family shows up at Franklin’s home to collect one of their lost. A nice happy ending.

With Franklin and the Stopwatch, Franklin discovers an old stopwatch in the junk drawer at home. Franklin becomes obsessed with timing everything and everyone, to the point where he drives everyone crazy! When the tables are turned and all of Franklin’s actions are timed, he understands why everyone was so annoyed with his timely obsession.

Jennings does a good job of creating the essence of Paulette Bourgeois’s Franklin in these Level 2 readers. The titles are based on the television episodes children know and love. Colour illustrations appear throughout each 32-page story and a helpful “Note to Parents and Teachers” is included in both books. Recommended.