My Brave Year of Firsts

September 24, 2012
Curtis and Cornell use the occasion of their 10th collaboration to take readers on a journey through the firsts in the life of a fabulously pigtailed, snaggle-toothed girl named Frankie. Curtis sums it up nicely: "Some firsts just happen./ Some come when I try./ Some firsts make me smile./ Some firsts make me cry." The key to making the most of a firstâwhether good (first walk around the block without Mom), bad (first minor theft, first lie), or a matter of mastery (learning how to skip rope)âcomes down to curiosity, a willingness to learn from both triumphs and mistakes, and a hearty dose of that old-fashioned character trait known as grit. Frankie has it all, and Cornell has a great time capturing it, filling her pages with endearingly goofy kids, wide open opportunities, and a healthy dose of social satire (in Frankie's kindergarten class, the "What I did over the summer" bulletin board admonishes "Do not tell us you went to the beach or to Disneyland"). Even when Curtis's rhyming goes a little flat or verges on saccharine, readers will recognize familiar milestones in Frankie's catalogue of experiences. Ages 4â8.

October 1, 2012

PreS-Gr 1-In this10th book by this best-selling team, readers follow wild child Frankie through her first-grade year. Other firsts include crashing on a two-wheeler, cleaning up her new pet's poop, and falling off a pony and are balanced by learning to tie shoes, walking around the block with friends, and helping Dad at his restaurant. "Some FIRSTS just happen, /some come when I try, /some FIRSTS make me smile, /some make me cry." Curtis's encouragement to be "brave, true and strong" is empowering. Cornell's ink-and-watercolor cartoons burst with energy and humor. The first-day-of-school spread is hilarious: frantic parents crowding the door, one child flailing in tantrum, another facing the corner, one in fetal position under a table, and the heroine instantly enamored of a set of buck-toothed twins with flyaway hair. Both author and illustrator capture the joys of saying yes to a busy life.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 15, 2012
Curtis and Cornell pair up for their 10th outing to hilariously chronicle the many "firsts" their spunky, irreverent protagonist experiences. With an abundance of kinky, sunny yellow hair and a face nimble with a variety of rapidly changing and humorously exaggerated facial expressions, a young girl blithely describes her initial feats: riding a two-wheeler, choosing a pet and picking up its poop, getting caught in a lie, going to work with Dad, attending ballet class and playing T-ball. The comic narrative moves forward with a choppy clip--some of the rhyming couplets are a tad forced or use odd phrasing: "I tried for the first time to taste my mom's truffles / that apparently come from when pigs use their snuffles." Some humor seems aimed at adults, but in the main, it employs the right amount of silliness, such as when milk squirts through her nose or when she becomes hopelessly tangled in her jump-rope. Also in the frenetic flurry of bright watercolor-and-ink images, readers learn about some homonyms and peruse a funny chart of the umpteen ways to "tie" shoes. Finally the girl comes to realize that "first things / first happen / when I'm brave, true, and strong." Indeed. Fans will enjoy the many laugh-out-loud scenes regardless of the less-than-smooth text. Get ready for an onslaught of enthusiastic requests. (Picture book. 4-7)

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2012
Grades K-3 In their tenth collaboration, Curtis and Cornell chronicle young Frankie's year of firsts: the good, the bad, and the challenging. She masters riding (and crashing) a bicycle, adopts a Labrador retriever, learns to tie her shoes, secures a library card, is caught in a lie, suffers the stomach flu, and participates in her first try-athalon. Throughout, she remains positive, concluding, FIRST things FIRST happen when I'm brave, true, and strong. Curtis' rhymed couplets (some a bit forced) emphasize contemporary experiences: The first time I rode a two-wheeler alone, / I crashed and my mom filmed it on her iPhone. / I crashed and I crashed. Dad ran out of steam. / He let go, I went straight. / Mom filmed as she screamed. Cornell's childlike, watercolor-and-line sketches offer many interesting details and an irreverent attitude that is sure to appeal. Although not this team's strongest offering, this will be popular with children becoming increasingly independent and those who enjoyed this duo's It's Hard to Be Five (2004). HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Actress Curtis has been a best-selling force in the kids'-lit stacks for a long time, and book tours for this one (both physical and via satellite) will add more fuel to that fire.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
A girl describes a year's worth of firsts, both the good (first pony show, first successful rope-skipping) and the bad (first bee sting, first flu). Curtis's rhythm and diction can be faulty ("My sweet Auntie Cookie showed me choices to use"), but Cornell continues to do what she does best: put on paper the uncontainable jubilation of a proud child.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)