[.ca] Regarding the Fountain: A Tale, in Letters, of Liars and ... (ISBN 0380975386)

From Amazon.com:
How could a simple request for a new water fountain go so very, very off-track? When Principal Wally Russ writes to fountain designer Florence Waters to ask her to replace Dry Creek Middle School's busted drinking fountain, he little suspects that he is sparking the imagination of an artiste. Kate Klise's charming mystery novel is told entirely in letters and faxes, as the glamorous Florence visits Dry Creek and becomes friends with Mr. Sam N.'s fifth-grade class. The class helps Florence design the most outrageous water fountain ever, and along the way uncovers the dirty (and rather wet) secret that dwells underneath Dry Creek Middle School. Writes Florence to her new fifth-grade friends, "Your drawings are hanging in my studio. Pure inspiration. Of course a drinking fountain should have tropical fish and chocolate shakes!" The book reads like an inspired combination of the epistolary novels Daddy-Long-Legs and Griffin & Sabine. Line drawings by M. Sarah Klise adorn every page, with "snapshots" of the fifth-grade class, pages from the local paper, and coffee-stained While You Were Out notices thickening the stew. The emphasis on visual elements should make the book a hit with kids who claim they don't like to read. Author Klise knows her audience: bad puns flow as freely as water and the plot is just convoluted enough to challenge kids without frustrating them. The Klise sisters have created a classic of comic children's literature. (Ages 8 and older) --Claire Dederer

Why We Need More of Florence Waters:
These days it seems like lots of celebrities have decided to try their hand at writing books for kids. While some of them may do a fairly credible job, it is nice to know that there are truly professional authors like Kate Klise who really understand how to craft a story for young adults. Regarding the Fountain is highly entertaining, and the unique format, including some sensational illustrations along with the memos, news articles and phone messages,etc. makes our kids want to read more. Some may say that the plot should provide more details on how to get good government price quotes and deal with economic issues in Dry Creek in order to be more realistic. As Florence Waters would say, "Forgive me for saying so, but shame on you." Most people like this book just the way it is. There is plenty of time for kids to learn about all those things later, but for now, how about if we let them enjoy dreaming of designing their own chocolate syrup spewing fountains and other such impractical things that make being a kid remarkable. But then again, I guess some people also thought that there should be an engineering explanation in the Wizard of Oz for how a witch could fly around on a broom. And as for Florence herself, we could all use a little more of someone like her in our lives, someone who puts quality and art above profit, insists on personal interaction, and even knows how to respond to an innocent crush without hurting feelings. Seems like these are good lessons for us all, so I am anxiously waiting for the next book in this series - as I am sure many others are too.

Re: Fountain:
Some books just don't go far enough. Let's take "Regarding the Fountain" as our example in this case. Here we have the modestly different idea of revealing a mystery through a series of letters and other forms of written communication in a small town elementary school. I often have some difficulty determining how much a book should reveal if it wants its child readers to figure out the book's mystery on their own. In this particular case, I can't help but conclude that the author gives far too much away in a plot that contains too little. The book is engaging, but it's hard to say if this is because the form itself is different. The letters, memos, newpaper articles, etc. that make up the plot are diverting, but there are a couple reasons this books isn't going to be remembered in ten years or less. The illustrations are too cartoonish to effectively convey the story's otherwise realistic bent. The characters, due to the nature of the book itself, aren't adequately fleshed out. This applies especially to the students, of which the 5th grade seems to contains seven. Finally, there's the odd psuedo-romance between the school's 5th grade teacher and the artist commissioned to create a drinking fountain for the school. With a kind of "gotcha!" ending it is revealed that rather than proposing marriage the teacher has, instead, proposed painting lessons. And did I mention the personality of the "artist"? Here's where the book tripped from mildly amusing to downright annoying. What we have in this book is the old story of "an artistic teacher/artist challenges the administration's understanding of "right" and "wrong" and teaches the children that true art is within each and every one of them". Which would be all well and good if (a) this storyline hadn't been done to death already and (b) it had been done well. The principal of the school continually asks this woman for a price quotation which is comically refused him because, as a principal, he keeps asking his secretary to write his letters. Which is apparently evil. So no quotation comes and the reasons why this principal never asked any other vendor for a pricing is left unclear. Other mysteries abound. Why didn't the town investigate the sudden disappearance of water when the creek dried up if the economic stability of the city depended on it? Why would the culprits place large maps of their crime in their offices? Why would one of the culprits have done it so that she could get rich off of.... a single swimming pool? Such clumsy mistakes are not missed by children's eyes, and the author of this sordid tale should pray that the originality found in the book's form more than makes up for the lack of originality found in her plot, setting, and characters.

AMAZING AND FANTABULOUS!:
I absolutely adored this book! As soon as I had finished it, I went online to see if she had written any other books, and lol and behold, alsong came Letters from Camp and Trial by Journal! This book is an enticing hold-on-to-your-hats book you just can't put down. Ms. Klise and Ms. Klise worked wonderfully to produce such a masterpiece, and I'm bubbling like a fountain with praise for it.

A Must Have Educational Tool:
Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise Regarding the Fountain is a most unusual and entertaining book filled with mysteries, unusual characters, and ample educational benefits. The story unfolds when Sam N's 5th grade class is assigned the task of presenting the history of Dry Creek at the annual Dry Creek Days Celebration. The class is surprised to discover that Dry Creek had changed its name thirty years ago. The town was once known as Spring Creek, but the town decided to change it when the spring dried up along with a lot of the town's businesses. As the class is researching their project, the principal of the school is distressed with the leaky water fountain at the school and wants it replaced. He writes Flo Waters, a well-known fountain designer, asking her to send designs on a new water fountain for the school. Ms. Waters corresponds back and forth with the students to get their ideas on how fountain should be designed. She is so delighted with the class that she sends them letters and artifacts from all of the places she visits. The fifth grade class uses her artifacts and their research facts for their presentation. The class unveils some interesting facts on why the water dried up and helps restore the missing water supply back to the town. Regarding the Fountain gives teachers opportunities to integrate history, geography, math, and language arts into their reading activities. This is a very entertaining and funny book that can be read by students above 3rd grade. This adventure is highly recommended.

A Great Book!!!:
This is a great book!! The charecters names are funny like Sally Mander(get it- Sallamander) and Dee Eel(Deal) and a lot of the kids names are funny too. It is about a leaking fountain that needs to be fixed. The lady that will fix it has crazy ideas with the help of a fifh grade class. They begin to be friends even though they havent met her. But when the school board disagrees with the fountain... what will they do? (Oh ya btw the city has no fresh water so will they get any???... read it to find out)