Children's Book Reviews
Page Two of TwoLizzy's Do's and Don'ts by Jessica Harper, Illustrated by Lindsay Harper duPont
HarperCollins, March, 2002Picture Book, 40 pages
ISBN: 0066238609
Ages 4 - 8
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Told from the child's point of view, Lizzy's Do's
and Don'ts is a book that should be shared, especially
when frustration levels begin to rise and things become
generally negative. A collaboration of two sisters, one
a writer and the other an illustrator, and both of them
mothers of young daughters, Lizzy's Do's and Don'ts is just
the right book to be shared to restore the equilibrium to
a very important relationship.
Lizzy gets to tell her side of the conflict first, and all children will relate to her point of view. Grownups are so hard to please, and as soon as you get one thing right, something else is wrong. Lizzy admonishes her mother with a list of don'ts that will probably surprise the adult listener with its thoroughness. (Apparently, children really do listen.) After Lizzy recounts all of the things she is told not to do, she gets a turn to tell her mother what not to do. Parents will especially notice how much Lizzy resents having a parent chat on the telephone or force her to wear a hated dress. All of the lists are written in rhymed couplets, a form that always appeals to children.
After listing all of the "don'ts", Lizzy and her mother think a while and then come up with some do's. Lizzy gives her list first and then it is followed by her Mother's list. Some of the do's are very positive for a young girl. " Do climb a tree as high as you dare," is followed by "Do tell me when life seems unfair." All of this is pulled together with the underlying "Do ask me if I love you. Yes! I do, do, do."
Lizzy' s Do's and Don'ts is a very positive book to be shared by a mother and daughter. It will refocus emotions to a more positive level, which of course, is the very best kind of personal discipline anyone can have, whether child or adult.
--Sarah Reaves White
Take Me Out to the Ball Game Illustrated by Laura Blanken Merer
HarperCollins, March, 2002Board Book, 10 pages
ISBN: 0694015601
Ages 6 mos. - 3 years
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Published in the sturdy board book format and
with a press and sing button, Take Me Out to the Ball
Game, is going to be enjoyed by any child from 6 months
to three years and even beyond. Wisely, the publisher
ensured that the little button
gives only the tune and leaves out the irritating voice that
many toys now include. This is a sing-along book, so that
reading and sequence are reinforced as one turns the pages.
On each page are simple figures of children painted in bold
primary colors and the children are both playing and
watching a baseball game. This little book will be lots
of fun for a young child learning to love books and singing.
--Sarah Reaves White
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