Review by Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. Five-year-old aspiring dancer Becca is furious when she learns about her lazy eye: Ballerinas don't wear glasses. And they especially do NOT wear patches! She grudgingly chooses purple glasses and a pink eye patch, but she's doesn't want to go to school the next morning: Everyone is going to think I look stupid. Then her brother offers to lend her his pirate costume, to match her patch, and Becca becomes Ballerina Pirate, dancing her way through class. By the end of the day, all the kids yearn for a patch like Becca's. The split-second reversal from despondent patch hater to Ballerina Pirate may seem a bit abrupt to some children, especially those struggling to accept patches (or other corrective gear) of their own. Still, this is a well-paced, reassuring offering on an unusual topic, and the bright, cheerful, scribbly drawings of twirling, high-spirited Becca and her friends reinforce the messages of normalcy and acceptance. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Five-year-old Becca is mortified to learn she has amblyopia (her right eye is stronger than her left). "Ballerinas don't wear glasses," she wails. "And they especially do not wear patches!" But by drawing on her vivid imagination and impressive leadership skills, Becca finds the courage to attend kindergarten the next day, and mesmerizes her peers with three new personas: Becca the Ballerina Pirate, Becca the Private Eye and even Becca the One-Eyed Monster. "By the end of the day," writes Headley (Nothing but the Truth [and a Few White Lies]) "the entire class demanded patches of their own." Unfortunately, the breathless, wordy text leaves little to readers' imaginations, while Vane's (Maddy in the Middle) cartoon illustrations seem equally frenetic (and her cast looks older than kindergarteners). Even the premise is problematic: given children's love of anything that looks rakish and Becca's own self-possession, readers may find it hard to believe that she had to invest so much energy to persuade her classmates that her patch is cool. Ages 5-8. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-What could have been a saccharine and didactic message book about accepting differences is, instead, a lovely and surprising story that will certainly be enjoyed as a read-aloud. Becca's doctor discovers that she's got a lazy eye and needs a patch and glasses to strengthen her eyesight. The five-year-old is worried that the other students will think she looks stupid so, to boost her confidence, her older brother lends her his favorite pirate costume to go with her purple glasses and bright pink patch (this girl is clearly partial to pink). The bold hues in the cartoonlike watercolors reinforce Becca's and her classmates' energy. The students are fascinated as she plays Becca the Ballerina Pirate, Private Eye, and One-Eyed Monster before admitting the real reason for her patch. The illustrations dance off the pages, and Becca's exuberance shines through.-Genevieve Gallagher, Murray Elementary School, Charlottesville, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Five-year-old amblyopic Becca is so mortified about having to wear an eye patch that she dons a pirate costume and tells her classmates that she's a pirate, then a private eye, then a one-eyed monster. Refreshingly, the story doesn't end with Becca shame-facedly confessing the real reason for her masquerade. Vane's energetic art might have better suggested the girl's underlying anxiety. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Amblyopia, or lazy eye, is an unlikely hook to hang a story on, but since nearly five percent of children experience the condition, and may feel a twinge of discomfort regarding its treatment, the time has definitely come for this issue. Headley's heroine, Rebecca, makes the best of her eye patch. When her curious classmates ask her about the patch--fortunately they are not a cruel bunch--she tells them she's a pirate and makes a game of it. When they persist, she becomes a private eye (cannily shifting into the singular) or a cyclopean monster, and Vane draws Rebecca lunging into her roles with brio and dash, and a good and scary face. Who knows--maybe eye patches will become accessorizing statements, but for an issue-driven offering, this one's not bad. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
