Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business

Volume XXVII / Issue 36 - May 21 / 2021
Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business
Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business
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Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business

Author: 
Bree Galbraith
Illustrated by: 
Morgan Goble
Series: 
Wednesday Wilson
Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2021
144 pp., hardcover, $16.99
ISBN: 
9781525303272
Grades: 
Grades 1-4
Ages: 
Ages 6-9
Review by: 
Aileen Wortley
3
Excerpt: 

A lot of people think Charlie is just a regular guy with a bajillion freckles, but that’s because he’s shy and doesn’t show people his skills. He’s planning on being an inventor. He also knows a ton of facts because his mom writes those 1000 Weirdest Things on the Planet books. He’s the perfect person to help me start a business because he has the type of brain that thinks about the tiny details. One day I’ll make him my Vice President of Operations.

Our school, Harbor View Elementary, is right around the corner. It’s so close we can hear the bell from both of our houses, and at mine, it’s louder. But we take a different route to school every day for two reasons:

1. to avoid certain people (which I’ll explain later)

2. so that a spy trying to steal* our top-secret inventions wouldn’t be able to follow us.

*Just so you know, inventions aren’t safe until they have a patent which is basically an official letter from the government saying no one can copy you. But patents cost money, so I should add that to my big, long list of things I want to buy.

In the first title of a chapter book series aimed at children aged 6-9, readers meet Wednesday Wilson, ebullient, determined and inventive with great plans to become an entrepreneur. She is assisted in her endeavors by brainy best friend Charlie and her little brother Mister. The search for a business project gains urgency motivated by a confrontation with the ‘Emma’s”, a small group of adversarial classmates. In Wednesday’s desire to impress them with her business acumen, she makes some dramatic mistakes. These include desecrating library books to make ‘secret keepers’ and indirectly diverting money for a class trip! Wednesday is in serious trouble.

Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business is a fast-paced read with an entertaining plot and a feisty no-holds barred heroine. Wednesday’s narration and her penchant for making lists of business basics and terminology make it a lighthearted 101 guide for potential young entrepreneurs. Replete with a determined female character, racial diversity and same-sex parents for Wednesday (Mom and Mum!!), the book checks all the boxes for societal appropriateness.

Goal-oriented Wednesday is a real go-getter but also reckless and not always very likeable, only too ready to dismiss potential hurdles raised by her business partners. However, she learns from her mistakes and is gracious in doing so. The thoughtful supporting cast of Charlie and Mister are foils for her character as is the mildly ‘MEAN’ group of students Wednesday considers her nemesis.

The layout is clear and inviting, amply illustrated with expressive black and white illustrations that reflect the tensions of the story and depict the emotions of the characters. Despite the somewhat frenetic pace and Wednesday’s breathless narration, children will enjoy Wednesday Wilson Gets Down to Business and get caught up in her efforts and her ability to get into trouble.

Recommended
Reviewer: 

Aileen Wortley is a retired children’s librarian from Toronto, Ontario.