Claudia's Book is the second of six Portrait Collection books published by Scholastic from 1994-1997.
Premise[]
Back Cover Summary[]
Ugh. So this is my autobiography. All the eighth-graders at SMS have to write one. Even though I'm not good at writing, it's been cool remembering when I was little. I have lots of good memories of growing up here on Bradford Court, across the street from my friends Kristy and Mary Anne. Like my sixth birthday. First it was good, then it was bad, then it was good again. And the time I was afraid of the tooth fairy!
I probably won't get an A on this assignment. I never do. But I have to admit that this is one project that's actually been fun.
Chapter 1[]
Summary Claudia recounts who her friends and family are. She tells the reader about the assignment and is working on her homework. She calls Stacey to help with math and Stacey gives her inspiration for her autobiography.
Locations
- Kishi House
Characters
Part I:Baby Days[]
Summary claudia starts by recalling her birth and then asking Janine about the day that she was born.
One of Claudia's earliest memories is of her, Mary Anne, and Kristy drew in the wet cement that made a path in the back of the Kishi house. Mimi catches them and calls the cement re-smoothed but she later lets them press their hands. Claudia reveals that she stops by and checks how much she's grown since then.
Locations
- Kishi House
Characters
Part II:Happy Birthday to Me[]
Summary The kids in Claudia's kindergarten class celebrate their last day of school. Kristy, Claudia, and Mary Anne pass out invitations for Claudia's birthday during dismissal. The students don't come to Claudia's birthday for various reasons. A surprise party is held in Mary Anne's backyard with Kristy and Mary Anne's family.
Locations
- Stoneybrook Elementary School
- Kishi House
- King Kone's (mentioned)
- Spier backyard
Characters
- Cokie Mason and her father (mentioned)
- Mary Anne Spier
- Kristy Thomas
- Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer (mentioned)
- Richard Spier (mentioned)
- Mrs. Kushel - Claudia's kindergarten teacher
- Alan Gray (mentioned)
- Pete Black (mentioned)
- Miss Packet - Claudia's strict art teacher
Part III: The Truth about the Tooth Fairy[]
Summary Claudia's develops a fear of the tooth fairy when she, Emily Bernstein, and Rick Chow theorize that the tooth fairy takes loose teeth out of kids mouths. Her teacher tells her that there's nothing to be scared of and even has a unit about animal teeth and a shark tooth is passed around class. Claudia then goes to the dentist and later an oral surgeon to get a tooth pulled. She tries to set a trap for the tooth fairy only to realize that her mom was the tooth fairy.
Locations
- Stoneybrook Elementary School
- Dr. Rice's dentist office
- Dr. Celenza's office
Characters
- Emily Bernstein
- Rick Chow
- Kristy Thomas
- Mary Anne Spier
- Pete Black (mentioned)
- Mr. Eccles - Claudia's second grade teacher
- Dr. Rice
- Dr. Celenza
Part IV: Boo for Fourth Grade[]
Summary Claudia starts fourth grade and her teacher Ms. Jameson recommends that Claudia start at the Stamford Alternative Academy. Claudia starts the school and eventually falls depressed since she missed her friends and SES.
Locations:
Characters
- Ms. Jameson - Claudia's fourth grade teacher
- Corla Magnusson - academic coordinator at SAA
- Kristy Thomas
- Rioko Kishi
- John Kishi
- Mimi Yamamoto
- Janine Kishi
Part V:The Sea Rose[]
Summary Claudia goes to Hammond Beach with Kristy's family and Mary Anne for a vacation when she's eleven. They decided to stay for the weekend while Charlie and Sam have playoffs for little league. This is the first time Claudia's spent a long time away from home. She and Kristy lose David Michael and never tell anyone about what happened.
Locations
- Hammond Beach
- Kishi House
- Sea Rose - Hotel
Characters
- Kristy Thomas
- Rioko Kishi
- Janine Kishi
- Mimi Yamamoto
- Sam Thomas
- Charlie Thomas
- David Michael Thomas
- Elizabeth Thomas
- Mary Anne Spier (mentioned)
- Unnamed life-guard
Pop Culture and Real-Life References[]
- Fruit Roll-Ups
- Hershey's Hugs
- The Wizard of Oz, Harriet the Spy, Nancy Drew
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
Inconsistencies
- On page 30 Claudia says that her hair was in pigtails in her school picture, but on the following pages illustrations her hair is in a side ponytail.
Trivia[]
- Claudia's autobiography is the only one to dedicate her autobiography to someone and she dedicates it to Mimi.
- Her assignment is typed on Janine's computer and Claudia considers letting her parents buy a computer for her, because she liked using it so much.
- Claudia has a good winter coat that she only wears on special occasions so she stores snacks in the pockets.
- Claudia and Stacey are the same height.
- Claudia drew all over the bathroom walls and tried to convince her mom it was an art show.
- Claudia still likes her self portrait from when she was in kindergarten.
- Janine remembers when Claudia came home from the hospital. She recalls having alphabet soup and finding all the letters except for Y and Z.
- The Kishi house used to have a gravel driveway that gets made into a cement one when Claudia was four.
- Cokie Mason demanded her father stay with her on the first day of kindergarten.
- Stacey and Claudia make plans to go to the mall that weekend in the first chapter.
- Claudia's sixth birthday was circus themed.
- Janine got Claudia hooked on mystery books when she gave her a beginning reader mystery book.
- Kristy lost two teeth at the same time and showed it off at show and tell in the second grade.
- Second grade was the last time Claudia liked going to school.
- Claudia got stick on earrings from the dentist.
- Claudia connected that her parents were also the Easter bunny and Santa after catching her mother leave a dollar for her tooth.
- Claudia is never tested for learning disabilities despite the tests being mentioned on page 90.
- By the fourth grade Claudia was making her own jewelry and sewing buttons on her shirts.
- Claudia never liked Mr. Thomas as mentioned in chapter 12.
- Mary Anne didn't go to the beach with Claudia and Kristy because she and Richard were visiting family.
- This is the first time David Michael goes to the Atlantic Ocean but he has been to the beach of the Long Island Sound.