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Item Barcode | Collection | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
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Summary
Summary
No share time! Only one recess! Writing is hard! The stories don't end right! FIRST GRADE STINKS!
It is the first day of school and Hayley is excited. Things are different now. She isn't a kindergartener anymore; she is a big kid. She is a first grader.
Hayley quickly finds out that first grade is different from kindergarten, but in all the wrong ways! The classroom isn't as bright and colorful. Ms. Gray doesn't seem to smile as much as her kindergarten teacher Ms. Lacey did. The work is hard and there isn't enough time to play outside. Worst of all, her best friend Ryan says he likes first grade! Finally, Hayley has had enough. "First grade stinks!" she shouts. The classroom is suddenly very quiet. "You're in trouble now," Ryan whispers. But to Hayley's surprise Ms. Gray doesn't look mad at all.
Young readers will immediately empathize with Hayley and her increasing apprehension, as she tries to negotiate new expectations and challenges on the first day of a new school year.
Author Notes
Mary Ann Rodman, a former school media specialist, is the author of A Tree for Emmy and First Grade Stinks! She has received both the Ezra Jack Keats Award for Outstanding New Picture Book Writer and the Charlotte Zolotow Award. She lives in Georgia.
Beth Spiegel has edited award-winning documentary programs for television and directed animated films that have received several international awards. She lives in California.
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-On her first day of first grade, Haley discovers that the routines are much different and decidedly less fun than kindergarten. She gets only one recess, no sharing time, a room without the familiar decorations, a teacher who is less demonstrative than her beloved Ms. Lacy, and, worst of all, a read-aloud that isn't even finished. Each time Haley discovers another difference she mutters to herself, "First grade stinks!" Finally, a gentle reprimand for whispering sends Haley into a full-blown meltdown, screaming her mantra of frustration aloud to the entire class. When she lists her complaints to her teacher, Ms. Gray explains about chapter books and reassures her that soon she will be reading them on her own. With her eyes opened to the possibilities ahead, Haley decides that first grade is great. The scratchy, fluid, full-color watercolor-and-ink illustrations feature plenty of white space. Perfect as a read-aloud, this book is a worthy successor to Miriam Cohen's When Will I Read? (Dell, 1996). Pair it with Kevin Henkes's Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (HarperCollins, 1996) for a spot-on depiction of teachers helping kids through rough patches.-Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Nothing can measure up to a beloved kindergarten experience, as the spirited, pig-tailed narrator in this story resolutely comes to believe during her first day of first grade. Haley and her friend Ryan pride themselves on being big kids now. "Little kids stand at the school door, holding their parents' hands. Not Ryan and me. We walk into school all by ourselves." Haley's puffed-up feelings soon deflate, however. Her new teacher, Ms. Gray, gives them only a "tiny smile. Not a sunny-morning smile" like their kindergarten teacher's. The walls are bare, the work is hard and there's only one recess instead of two. "No share time? No dragon kite? No smiley teacher in a daffodil shirt? First grade stinks!" Haley reasons. The pacing of the first-person narration coupled with Spiegel's (Rosa's Room) winsome watercolors keeps this lively tale on track. Comedic spot illustrations contrast Haley's fond remembrances of kindergarten with her disgruntled feelings about first grade. With the help of an understanding Ms. Gray, Haley soon starts to see the up side of being a first-grader. Rodman (My Best Friend) handles the turmoil of school transitions with realism and humor. A good jumping-off book for discussions about differences and change. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved