Ready for kindergarten, Stinky Face?

In this early-reader companion to the popular Stinky Face picture-book series, the little boy addressed by his puzzling nickname shares his wildly imagined anxieties about starting kindergarten (“What if a hungry armadillo chases me at art time to eat my macaroni necklace?”), while his mother responds with soothing, deadpan answers that respect the real worry beneath the silly scenarios. Some challenging vocabulary may limit this to precocious new readers, but it makes a strong read-aloud choice, and as usual, Moore’s mixed-media full-bleed artwork perfectly captures an affectionate parent-child bond and the messy realities of kids’ everyday lives. Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews.

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 [Page 123]. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.

A mother reassures her son when he imagines increasingly silly things that might go wrong on his first day of kindergarten.

Perplexed by imaginative questions at the start of kindergarten, Stinky Face wonders what will happen if the classroom sink starts to release grape juice or the fish tank grows so large that it overtakes everything. Original.

Stinky Face is full of "What ifs" as he gets ready for kindergarten!It's time to go to kindergarten, but Stinky Face has a question . . ."But, Mama, what if the sink in my classroom pours grape juice instead of water?"As the situations grow stranger, Stinky Face's mama always has just the right answer to make him feel better.With Lisa McCourt's zany ideas and Cyd Moore's motion-filled illustrations, this reader is sure to make every worried kindergartner-to-be a little less nervous.

It's time to go to kindergarten, but Stinky Face has a question . . ."But, Mama, what if the sink in my classroom pours grape juice instead of water?" As the situations grow stranger, Stinky Face's mama always has just the right answer to make him feel better. With Lisa McCourt's zany ideas and Cyd Moore's motion-filled illustrations, this reader is sure to make every worried kindergartner-to-be a little less nervous.