Cute, though not as funny as Ramona, a good set of stories for preschoolers. ( )

This is a short book comprised of four stories about a set of twins. One twin likes to pretend, but the other is more pragmatic. In each story the four-year-old twins have something interesting and exciting happen, even if it is "just" going to the shoe store, or showing something new to the mailman.

Beverly Cleary writes children as they truly are, and helps us to remember how being 4, or 6, or 9 really was. ( )

This realistic fiction early chapter book follows a set of twins through their daily lives. The first story highlights the differences between the twins. The first page details what makes twins twins and follows to describe the differences in their behaviors. Janet likes to play make believe and pretend things, while Jimmy likes things that are real and doesn't necessarily appreciate the pretend aspect of anything. One day, Jimmy decided that he wanted to dig "the biggest hole in the world." His father found him a real shovel (one used for digging trenches) and Jimmy proceeded to dig a hole as big as he could. However, it was soon time for the twin's nap and when the two woke up, Janet was sitting in Jimmy's hole! After he got her out of his very real hole, people kept asking him what he was going to do with it! He just wanted to keep his hole as a hole. Daddy didn't think this was a good idea though and ran to the store! When he came back, he had a huge Christmas tree and he let Jimmy help him plant it. His very real hole became a very real tree!
In the next chapter, the twins received dog biscuits from their neighbor and wanted to find a dog to give it to! However, the dogs that they find are not good enough to get their biscuits, so instead, they gave it to a cat! Mommy said the cat wouldn't eat it, but he did; even Mommy's can be wrong!
The next chapter is about the twins' feet growing bigger. Mommy takes the kids to get new shoes at the store, but the man there says that their feet haven't grown enough to get new shoes. Instead, the kids get new boots to fit over their shoes! Daddy decides to wash the car so that the kids can jump in puddles with their new boots and so that the mailman will be surprised when he sees the new red, WET boots!
During the last chapter, Janet collects thingamajigs all around the house and puts them into brown paper bags to put on her bed. Jimmy want to touch her thingamajigs and even take some! Janet didn't want to share her things though and even when her bed became cluttered with the bags and Mommy wanted her to throw them away, she wouldn't do it. It got to the point that the bags were covering her little bed and one day, Mommy said that there was a surprise coming for the twins! In the afternoon, the kids got new, big-kid beds! She decided that because she had a big-girl bed, she didn't need her bags of thingamajigs anymore! ( )

I am not a twin, but after reading Two Times the Fun by Beverly Cleary, I have a great insight on what it would be like to have someone always by my side. Jimmy and Janet are both four years old and are growing up around their little urban neighborhood. The two children go on four different adventures throughout this novel that captured me into reading it.

I absolutely loved that these twins are so similar, yet completely different. Janet loves to use her imagination and play pretend. Whereas, Jimmy likes to play with real objects so he can build things. However, they both like to compromise with each other in things that they want to do together. They both like shopping for new shoes and they both like to play with their dog biscuits. They have two distinct personalities, but they are facing the realities of growing up together.

This realistic fictional book shows events that could really happen to four-year-old kids. The children face problems such as growing out of their shoes or their beds. They also are learning to become more independent and make their own decisions. Janet and Jimmy love to go on little adventures that kept me on my toes to find out what they wanted to do next. For example, the two children went searching for the perfect dog to give their biscuit to, but they both settled on something much different than a dog. The author used so many different elements of literature to hold my attention.

I believe that Beverly Cleary used imagery to her advantage. For example, “Mother stood in the doorway watching her twins have fun. Daddy turned the hose on the grass and made a big puddle. Jimmy and Janet squished and splashed in the wet grass” (65). I was really able to picture these two children having a blast with their new rain boots in the puddles. It made me feel like I was a child again playing in the rain. I was able to relate to her book because I grew up in Portland, Oregon, just as she did. Jimmy and Janet are two four-year-old siblings that love growing up and each page of this book entailed a new lesson for these little rascals. ( )

This chapter book is about twins, Jimmy and Janet, who are different but always seem to find a good way to compromise and solve problems (with the help of their parents). I did not enjoy this book. I found it a little boring, but I do know that Beverly Cleary is a great children's book author so I will definitely continue to explore her work! As a part of a lesson I could ask students to write about experiences they have shared with either a sibling, cousin, or friend. Students could compare their experiences to Jimmy and Janet's to see how their situations relate or differ to those in the chapter book. ( )