Search - First Grade Takes a Test

ISBN 044042500x - This is actually an okay book, despite the "dummy" comments. I find it refreshingly realistic to "hear" kids calling each other "dummies". Sure, it's not P.C., but it's realistic: kids in real life call each other names. Any parent would pause the reading and take advantage of the chance to explain why it's not nice to call one another names. Still, if you're offended by that, by all means, skip this book.

The kids in first grade are taking a test, and most of them seem to have trouble. Wanting to give answers that aren't available options in the multiple-choice answers, they find their own ways to respond. When the test results come back, Anna Maria is invited to join a "special class", because she did very well on the test. The other kids feel bad about the fact that they didn't do as well and call each other - and themselves! - dummies. Their teacher (who never gets a name) tells them that tests aren't the most important thing and that tests can't tell them everything. It can't tell how good they are at sports, or how good a person they are, etc. Meanwhile, Anna Maria seems to suffer from separation anxiety, as she keeps popping back into her old class. In the end, Anna Maria returns to her class by her own choice.

By no means am I saying this is the finest book I've ever read, but I've always liked realism in books for young kids. At the very least, bad behavior allows a parent to teach a thing or two while they read. The drawings are cute, not spectacular, but cute, and they compliment the story well.

- AnnaLovesBooks

Great beginning reader.