Clementine

Author: Sarah Pennypacker
Lexile measure: 720
Bottom line:  More innocent than Pippi
Language: mild name calling--main character calls her brother names of vegetables instead of by his real name, which my older boy found hilarious.
Violence: none.
Big Kid Mature Topics: cutting your own or a friend's hair, using permanent marker on self or friend, getting sent to the principal's office, being a "difficult" child. The main character also notices that the lunch lady and the janitor are kissing.
Illustrations:  infrequent black and white shaded drawings.
Plot: moderately complex.

Of interest, Clementine is clearly a gifted child.  She often has good intentions but does the wrong thing.  I wondered if she had ADHD, too.  She seems like she has a ton of energy, creativity, and definitely difficulty with attention.   The parents seemed likeable and reasonable, too.

I really liked this book except for the part about the lunch lady and the janitor, which for some reason just seemed gross, even though there wasn't a lot of detail.  I censored this one for later.  You could easily leave the yucky part out if you don't have an independent reader, but I think children who have not attended school yet might not really appreciate this one.