Adorable! I have loved these since the first Mercy Watson book, so it's no surprise that I'd enjoy every one of the tales that gives us a deeper window into some of the ancillary characters in this world! The story is charming, the illustrations are bright, cheerful and adorable. I can't say enough good things about these books. They make great bedtime reads, as they have reasonable chapter length for younger listeners, and the right amount of pictures to keep it interesting for a range of reading levels. Read the whole series!

Mercy Watson plays a very minor role in this spin-off quasi-series. This story has a cute message that doesn't beat the reader over the head.

I received an ARC through NetGalley, so illustrations were in black and white but adorable all the same.

On the list of regrets I have as a parent is the fact that I could not get my kid to fall in love with Mercy Watson and Decawoo Drive.

Thank you NetGalley and Candlewick Press for sharing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This is a fantastic read for emerging readers! I had a lot of fun with Stella and loved her spunk! I also loved Horace and their dynamic. It was a very enjoyable read.

Another great story from another resident of Deckawoo Drive. Mercy Watson is one of our favorites and we love catching up with her and her neighbors. 2nd graded Stella Endicott is one of Mercy’s neighbors. She’s an adventurous little girl that with a little help from Mercy writes the best metaphorical poem. Before she can present her poem to her class she gets in an argument with a classmate and they are sent to the principals office.

I enjoyed the rich vocabulary mixed in with a wonderfully blended in definitions that make it easier for kids to understand. Also all the examples of metaphors. The book is a sweet, kind hearted way To show how even the most unlikely people can appreciate each other.

Thank you Netgalley & Candlewick for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

With an almost lyrical narrative, a gently humorous, but thoughtful story, and delightfully quirky characters, this is pure diCamillo. Van Dusen’s gouache illustrations humorously enhance the narrative. DiCamillo helps children see the value of imagination and creativity and that trying to understand that annoying person could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. As Stella always says: “anything can happen...” (p. 4). Highly recommended!

My boys are huge Kate DiCamillo fans! We couldn’t wait to read her latest book, and it did not disappoint! “Stella Endicott and the Anything-Is-Possible-Poem” is classic Kate DiCamillo! The characters are hilarious and the names always get my boys. They love how the same characters show up in each of her books. I love how I can read them a fun, upbeat book that has an uplifting message and nothing inappropriate for their ages. We love the illustrations and her funny way with words. We highly recommend her latest book about Stella and her poem about her next door neighbor pig. Her classmate Horace disagrees with Stella’s poem and we have to find out if they can form a friendship. This book is perfect for late preschool to middle elementary.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher but my opinions are my own.

This will make a great back-to-school read-aloud for young students and a wonderful addition to classroom and school libraries. Along with her signature creation of amazing characters, Kate introduces early readers to poetry. This book would be a great way to kick off a poetry unit.

∗∗∗∗∗Stella Endicott and the Anything- is- Possible Poem – by Kate DiCamillo – features Stella Suzanne Endicott (sadly with only one “z”). Our star character has a “curious and courageous” attitude and “anything can happen, anything at all” excitement about life. These joyous qualities see her through a challenging day ending to young reader’s satisfaction with a friendship Stella never anticipated. A few unpleasant characters join the mix, but they are overshadowed by guest appearances by neighborhood favorites Mercy Watson and Baby Lincoln. A lexical plethora (What! Yes a slew of high level vocabulary – ) awaits fans and newcomers to this newest addition to the Tales From Deckawoo Drive series. But have no fear of the challenging language, the story flows smoothly with enough context to carry the reading of this tale without interference. Children ages 6 through 9 would enjoy building the Deckawoo Drive community with covered boxes for buildings and making stick puppets to retell and create their own tales of this interesting village. Terrific intro to metaphors and writing poetry for young children. Thank you Candlewick Press and netgalley.com for providing the opportunity for me to review the ARC of this book.

Most kids today are familiar with Mercy the pig (shown on the cover). While this installment from Kate DiCamillo does include the house trained hog, she plays a minor part in the story. Stella is in 2nd grade and has to sit by the most annoying, know-it-all boy in the class, Horace. At least she has a teacher that she adores.

When that beloved teacher assigns a project to write a poem with a metaphor, Stella snuggles up to her favorite pig for inspiration. She felt so proud of her poem, until she foolishly lets Horace read her poem and one hum dinger of an argument ensues which then leads to {horror of horrors} a trip to the principal's office. But there is still adventures to be had between their classroom and office and in the end, Stella and Horace gain a greater appreciation for their differences.

The illustrations are marvelous and help illustrate the action so well. Kids will enjoy seeing the representation of each character in the story (including Mercy as well!). Readers will learn a bit about poetry and metaphors so this would make an excellent read for elementary classrooms. Readers will also learn a fair amount of vocabulary (helpfully defined by Horace within the story), and also learn some valuable lessons about friendship.

I highly recommend not only this book by Kate DiCamillo, but all the other titles about Mercy Watson. DiCamillo's books are destined to be childhood classics.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of Stella Endicott and the Anything-Is-Possible Poem from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

I love this Mercy Watson spin-off series! Each book in the Deckawoo Drive series introduces us to another eccentric character in this charming community. In this series entry, Stella is very excited to learn that her class will be writing a poetry and begins searching for metaphors to use in her poem, which is she sure will be epically awesome. Her classmate, Horace, though, is a very talented writer himself and when he criticizes her poem and calls her a liar when she talks about Mercy, the pig who was sleeping on the couch, they both get sent to the principal’s office for fighting in class. Horace is terrified of being sent to the principal since he is sure this visit will be reflected on his permanent record and will make it difficult for him to ever go to college and do other permanent damage to his future. As they are waiting for the principal, Horace bolts. Stella follows him and the two end up getting locked in the custodian’s closet, where they ultimately become friends.

This is one of my “go-to” recommendations for kids who are beginning chapter book readers. I will definitely be adding this one to my school library’s collection.

Following the kid and librarian favorite Mercy Watson series, Stella Endicott and the Anything is Possible Poem is part of the series featuring characters from the Mercy Watson books. I loved so many things about Stella Endicott. She loves poetry and is terrific at writing metaphors. She shows us that courage and curiosity can take us far and lead us to new friends and experiences. A perfect read aloud, I can’t wait to share this with my teachers and students.

I've been a fan of Kate DiCamillo for years, but I think I love her writing even more with this story. Stella learns about poems, metaphors and getting along with others over the course of two days. Stella must be courageous and curious. This is a great read-aloud with late pre-schoolers to early readers.

My young readers have always loved Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson and her Tales from Deckawoo Drive series. And now I'm excited at the possibility of being about to share the latest Deckawoo tale with them. Stella Endicott and the Anything-Is-Possible Poem is the fifth volume in the series and I know my kids are already excited about it, thanks to Zoom meetings. I haven't read it to them (copyright laws), but this is pretty much what I have told them about it:

It's Stella's first day of second grade and it just so happens that her new teacher, Tamar Calliope Liliana, loves the same things Stella loves - 'listening closely, speaking softly, and singing loudly.' Second grade is definitely on course to be wonderful. Well, except for Horace Broom, the class know-it-all, who naturally knows the definition of metaphor when Ms. Liliana asks if the class knows what a metaphor is before assigning them homework - to write a poem with a metaphor in it. That ought to be easy, Stella thinks, especially since Ms. Liliana also agrees with Baby Lincoln - that anything is possible in stories and in poems, too.

But writing a poem that includes a metaphor AND the idea of that anything is possible isn't as easy as Stella thought it would. Needing some moral support and inspiration, Stella heads over to visit Mercy Watson and sure enough, she comes up with a lovely poem that includes Mercy.

The next day, proud of what she has written, Stella mistakenly lets Horace read her poem but when he comes to the part where Mercy is sitting on the couch, he insists that pigs do not do that, that it is not possible, that pigs live on farms. But Stella stands her ground and insists that Mercy lives in a house and sits on the couch - all the time. No longer 'speaking softly,' Ms. Liliana sends Stella and Horace to Mr. Tinwiddie, the principal, and it is a trip from classroom to principal's office like no other. But by the end of their adventure, Stella and Horace have become friends, and have learned to respect their differences, and look at things from the other's point of view. My young readers are just going to have to wait to find out what adventures Stella and Horace have on their to Mr. Tinwiddie's office.

Stella's story, like all the Deckawoo tales, is just charming. DiCamillo has taken something a simple as a poem and a walk to the principal's office to highlight Stella and Horace's different and opposite personalities, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and has shown us how adversaries can learn to use them to help each other and even forge a friendship.

I've read the Mercy Watson and the Deckawoo tales to a lot of kids and one of the things they really like about them are the recurring characters, and not only that, but the characters are always consistently who the kids expect them to be, in both the action of the story and the illustrations. And kids like that - it's familiar and comfortable and feels like they are seeing old friends each time they visit and revisit Deckawoo Drive. And yet each story is refreshingly new and has a gentle lesson that even my youngest readers can grasp. And Stella Endicott and the Anything-Is-Possible Poem is no different.

And luckily, there is a treasure trove of Tales from Deckawoo Drive. Have you read them all?

This book is recommended for readers age 6+, but 5-year-olds like it, too.
This book was an EARC gratefully received from NetGalley and the publisher, Candlewick Press.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

We have long been fans of Mercy Watson and all the characters in these books. This one was no different and both my 9 and 5 year old loved it! We’ve ordered a copy for our shelves and look forward to putting it next to the rest of our collection!

A cute book with warm, vibrant illustrations and solid characters, but it's too bad that the story is wafer-thin.

This was such a sweet story with excellent illustrations! I read it once to myself and then over and over to my children. We are big fans.

What is not to love about another Kate DiCamillo title in the charming Mercy Watson universe? DiCamillo holds her audience in such high regard, and as a librarian, I can't applaud her enough. She writes intelligently and doesn't dumb down concepts for her younger audience. In this story, Stella Endicott is a curious little girl who enjoys school--except when she has to listen to the well-meaning Horace Broom "boy-splain" everything all day long. After Horace cluelessly but ruthlessly critiques her poem, Stella and Horace visit the principal's office. On their way there--and back--they learn how even the most different personalities have more in common than it first appears. Along with the usual list of new vocabulary words, young readers also learn a little about writing, poetry, and metaphors.

Stella Endicott and the Anything-Is-Possible Poem is excellent on so many levels. An outstanding addition to an amazing series.

I love reading any Kate DiCamillo book but if it features Mercy I am the happiest. Mercy the pig has won my adult heart over many times over.

I cannot wait to read this book to my littles when school comes back in session. I think they will get a kick out of it. I was so impressed by how it taught all about metaphors in a fun and easy way. This is the type of book that makes reading and learning fun for students.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Candlewick Press, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.

Such a sweet story! Great for early readers, ready for chapter books. The unlikely friendship that develops between the two main characters is heartwarming. One of my favorite authors, I highly recommend this story.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.