Wednesday Williams Gets Down to Business is the first in a new young reader chapter book series by Bree Galbraith. I enjoyed reading my arc, and while it isn’t the best young reader chapter book I’ve read this year, the art had some strong kid appeal and I wonder what the rest of the series will focus on.
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The summary, from Amazon:
In the first entertaining installment in a new early chapter book series, one unfortunate kale incident isn’t enough to stop the unbeatable Wednesday Wilson from pursuing her entrepreneurial dreams — or is it?The most important thing to know about Wednesday Wilson is that she’s an entrepreneur. She hasn’t started any businesses yet, but she’s pretty sure today is the day. She and her best friend, Charlie (Wednesday’s future Vice President of Operations), with some help from her little brother, Mister, have made a list of potential businesses. But before they get to move forward on one, there’s an unfortunate incident in class with the Emmas (whose last initials happen to spell M.E.A.N.) involving a bearded dragon named Morten and a piece of kale . . . it’s a long story. It figures that Wednesday’s archnemeses would be the ones to mess up her plans! But maybe all is not lost. Maybe this is just the opportunity Wednesday and her friends needed to come up with a brilliant business idea that will save the day and make them millionaires. Or . . . not? With its fresh voice, diverse cast of lovable and relatable characters and delightfully determined heroine, Bree Galbraith’s illustrated early chapter book series hits the spot for beginning readers (and their grown-ups!). Endearing black-and-white drawings by Morgan Goble add nuance and clarity and help guide the story forward for early readers. Definitions of vocabulary words, all related to business, appear as footnotes throughout the text.
Buy Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business here.
Wednesday Wilson is a memorable character. She’s funny and ambitious and going through all the same things most kids her age are: losing and making friends and dealing with bullies, for instance. She wants to be an entrepreneur and sees an opportunity to make some money while also avoiding getting in trouble.
While I found this book to be fun, it wasn’t my favorite early chapter book of 2021. I’m not huge on the theme of money being a goal (though we all want to make money) and I didn’t love how all of the vocabulary was presented. There is a lot of vocabulary in this one, and while that’s awesome, definitions were all provided in such a “this means this” sort of way. I think there are lots of more organic ways to teach children vocab while also teaching them context clue skills, for example. Another young reader chapter book that also has entrepreneurial themes from 2021 was J.D. and the Great Barber Battle, a book that stood out more for me.
Overall, Wednesday Wilson had memorable characters – not just Wednesday, but her friends and enemies too. While this was a 3 star read for me as an adult who works with children, kids might get into it more than I did and I’ll keep it on my radar to recommend.
Find out more about how I rate books here.
Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business by Bree Galbraith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Cute & funny, though there is a ton of vocabulary! This is a fairly solid young reader with fun characters and illustrations.
Book Club Questions
- If you were an entrepreneur, what would your business be or what would you sell?
- Why was Wednesday’s idea for a Secret Keeper not the best? What was good about her idea?
Interested? Buy Wednesday Williams Gets Down to Business.
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