Sloppy Joe

Sloppy Joe
Written by Dave Keane
2009

Sloppy Joe is a kid that has certainly earned his nickname. Everything about him is sloppy...his clothes, his room, how he eats and how he plays. When being sloppy gets him into trouble, Joe decides it's time to make a change and be Neat Joe. He starts his new life as Neat Joe the next day and cleans everything from his room to the dog. He even sets the table for dinner, and thinks that being neat isn't nearly as tough as he thought it would be. Everything seems to be going well, until he realizes that no one has noticed all of the changes that he's made because they all have the flu! The new Neat Joe does everything he can to take care of his family and make them feel better, at least until Grandma gets there, and his family helps him realize that Sloppy Joe is a pretty special kid.

Very few children (or adults for that matter) would struggle to relate to a kid who has a messy room. The events of Joe's day to day life, both while sloppy and neat, help to promote discussion and connections made by the students. This book would be a great one to use when encouraging students to make those connections to a story.