It’s Hard to Be Five: Learning How to Work My Control Panel

 

Written By: Jamie Lee Curtis

Illustrated By: Laura Cornell

Publishing Company: Harper Collins Publishers, 2004

31 Pages

Picture Book 

     I choose this book because of its title.  Based on the title, I thought it would be a great book to use for kindergarten.  I also noticed it was written by Jamie Lee Curtis.  I did not know that she wrote children’s books!  This is a very encouraging book for students in kindergarten.  It is about a little boy who is transitioning from being at home to coming to school every day.  Even though the boy is the character in the book, the story is told in an outside point of view that represents what five year olds have to go through on a day-to-day basis at school.  The boy talks about how different it is for him at home now as well as school.  He has a little brother who can get away with things much easier than he can and is more in the spotlight now, since his brother goes to school.  The boy also talks about wanting to play in the dirt, but, since he has school, he doesn’t have as much time for that anymore.  He describes school as being scary and strange.  The boy talks about how hard it is to stay still in school and how he has to walk to places all by his self.  But, after the boy has been in school for a while, he realizes that he likes his new found independence.  He has learned how to do all these new things at school and feels much more capable of doing what is asked of him.  The boy feels confident and proud; his control panel is now working smoothly!

     I love the illustrations in this book! The artist uses bright, vibrant water colors.  The pictures really have a way of jumping out at you.  My favorite part of the illustrations is how detailed they are.  When you open the book, there is a picture of the boy’s control panel. This includes a button for his mom, dad, brother, teacher, and manners.   I thought this was very neat.  It explains the meaning of the title, also.  The artist also chooses to make a bunch of steps leading up to the school; this shows how scary it is for the little boy.  The illustrator also uses words in her pictures to explain the boy’s thoughts.  At the end of the book, there is another control panel picture that shows his improvement. 

 

     While the book could be used up until third grade, I feel as though it is more appropriate for kindergarten.  I would ask my class questions and discuss how the character in the story changed from his first day of school to the end of the school year.  I would use this book for the second day of school and have my students relate their first day of school to the way the boy in the story felt.  I would also do an arts activity to go along with the story.  I would make each one of them a person out of construction paper and let them draw their control panel.  If I used this book in a higher grade, I would have my students write about their first day of school.  This book has not won a specific honor; however, Jamie Lee Curtis is a New York Times Best Selling author.