Scholastic Reader Level 1: Ready for Kindergarten, Stinky Face?
K-Gr 2–In Glasses, text and illustrations strive to assure readers that glasses are cool and everyone loves to wear them. Each spread depicts an outdoor scene (jungle, ocean, backyard, etc.) populated by a variety of animals and includes a single, large-print sentence that is part of a rhyming couplet. The somewhat bland text strains to be humorous: "Fancy glasses for the snake./Chimp needs glasses that won't break." The cartoon illustrations are bold–almost garish–and lack artistic interest. Joy Cowley's Agapanthus Hum and the Eyeglasses (Philomel, 1999) is a better choice for children concerned about donning specs for the first time. Kindergarten addresses school anxiety. In it, a boy questions his mother about some wild first-day scenarios such as, "what if the sink in my classroom pours grape juice instead of water?" Mom's answers are calm and reassuring: "Washing your hands would be a sticky job." Cheery illustrations and amusing facial expressions add humor to the exaggerated fears. Unfortunately, never is the name "Stinky Face" mentioned in the story and readers unfamiliar with the author's other books about this character might wonder why it appears in the title. Nonetheless, the book will join Jamie Harper's Miss Mingo and the First Day of School (Candlewick, 2006) and Julie Danneberg's First Day Jitters (Charlesbridge, 2000) in addressing first-day anxieties, and school-savvy readers will appreciate the child's silliness.Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME© Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.