Mary Ann Rodman

I really enjoyed this book, I really appreciated the way it addressed Grandma's death and Zach and Grandpa's grief. The plot of the story pleasantly surprised me, I assumed it would just be a book about a child learning to conquer his fear of roller coasters, I was not at all suspecting him to be grieving his grandmother! It was very well developed and I liked that in the end, Zach knew how to help his Grandpa by talking about his Grandma and what he misses about her. I feel that this book pushes readers, especially adults, to think about how we process grief and loss in the family. Zach's parents don't want him to bring Grandma up around Grandpa because they think the reminder will make him sad, but Zach knows that Grandpa just needs someone to talk to about her. I liked that the point of view was in first person and told from the little boy's point of view because it helped the story maintain it's innocence and it's genuineness by showing a little boy navigate grief for the first time unaffected by the way society tells him to mourn. The message of this story is to navigate your fears, whether they are heights or grief.… (altro)

It is the first day of first grade! First grade students begin to realize that first grade is very different from Kindergarten! There are not as many fun colors in the classroom, they have to write more and there is no nap time! At first it seems that first grade is horrible for the students. The teacher tells the students that by the end of first grade, the students are going to be able to read full chapter books by themselves! This excites this students. Then the students realize that kindergarten stinks, not first grade.

I read this in my first grade classroom during the second week of school. It worked really well! Some of the students in my class really did begin to miss kindergarten. Some of the students agreed that they missed nap time and their old kindergarten teacher just like the kids in the book. But by the end of the book, the students agreed with the students in the book that first grade is better than kindergarten!… (altro)