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

by Jamie Lee Curtis, Laura Cornell (Illustrator)

Overview

It's hard to be five.
Just yelled at my brother.
My mind says do one thing.
My mouth says another.

It's fun to be five!
Big changes are here!
My body's my car,
and I'm licensed to steer.

Learning not to hit? Having to wait your turn? Sitting still? It's definitely hard to be five. But Jamie Lee Curtis's encouraging text and Laura Cornell's playful illustrations make the struggles of self-control a little bit easier and a lot more fun!

This is the sixth inspired book from the #1 New York Times best-selling team of Today I Feel Silly: & Other Moods That Make My Day and I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self Esteem.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060080952
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/07/2004
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	19,955
Product dimensions:	9.54(w) x 11.32(h) x 0.34(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jamie Lee Curtis has had many firsts: her first (and only) marriage to Christopher Guest, her first time holding her children, Annie and Tom, her first time pretending to be a customer in an episode of Quincy, and her first time she wrote words that became her first book. She lives in Los Angeles, the first city she ever lived in, and is always first in line, first to arrive, first to leave, and first to sleep.

Laura Cornell lives in New York City with her daughter, Lily (first and only), but they spend much time in California, Laura's first state in her first home. She was asked to illustrate Jamie's first book, and that became ten. Lucky is the first word that comes to mind.

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
Bestselling author Jamie Lee Curtis once again teams up with Laura Cornell for another sure-to-be winner, this time to celebrate the agony and the ecstasy of being five. Complemented by Cornell's knee-slapping illustrations, which capture a frustrated boy learning to make sense of his changing world, Curtis zeroes in on the transformative age of five, when mouths have a mind of their own, clothes never fit, and of course, going to school for the first time is no picnic ("It's hard to be five. It takes Superman skill. Sitting in circles. Sitting so still"). But as fans have come to appreciate from Curtis, the author also shows the positive side of the coin: Being five also means responsibility, knowing yourself better, and recognizing that "I have my own mind and I have my own heart." In true form, Curtis and Cornell show childhood like it is, keeping the upbeat pace that readers found in their previous Today I Feel Silly and I'm Gonna Like Me. Five-year-olds will certainly cheer the voice that this duo lends them, while kids younger or older than five can reflect on how that age is an important door to identity and independence.

bn.com

The creative team behind Today I Feel Silly amiably addresses the challenges of being a five-year-old especially the pesky problem of learning self-control. In the story's wry opening, the narrator observes, "It's hard to be five. I'm little no more. Good old days are gone. 'Bye one, two, three, four." Among the trials he faces are controlling his temper when dealing with his younger brother ("My mind says do one thing, my mouth says another"), avoiding dirt and starting school ("School seems so scary. School seems so strange. I'm only five. My whole world's going to change"). Curtis's singsong verse also focuses on some of the pluses of being five: though his brother is strapped into a stroller, the hero can walk by himself ("It's fun to be five! Big changes are here! My body's my car, and I'm licensed to steer") and school entails some entertaining activities ("At five I'm a worker a bee among bees. I build things and grow things, say thank you and please"). Cornell's buoyant, teeming spreads and spot illustrations convey the boundless energy and changeable moods of this likeable five-year-old with on-target, hyperbolic humor. Though the narrative winds to a rather corny close, this cheerful book with its clever visual details will surely appeal to fans of the collaborators' earlier books as well as those looking for a reassuring, age-appropriate tale for the kindergartner in their lives. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

The jolly rhymes are written as if by a five-year-old, describing how hard it is to be past the "good-old days," to be in a time when so much more is expected of you; when you want to do what's right but just can't seem to. School is scary: "It takes Superman skill. Sitting in circles. Sitting so still." But it also sometimes fun to be five as well, with new skills and opportunities. "It's hard fun to be five..." "I'm here and I'm proud!" Kids can enjoy identifying with the mixed emotions as they learn to work their own control panel. Cornell's energetic, comic watercolor drawings demonstrate with gusto the frenetic actions of this normal kid. From the beginning end-papers with the "5-o-meter" flashing the "Panic" button through the many scenes with rhyming text plus all sorts of funny writing on book cover, back pack, in speech balloons, etc. she takes us on a frenetic romp guaranteed to wear out most adults while grabbing the attention of youngsters. On the back end-papers, the "5-o-meter control panel" is running smoothly at last. 2004, Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins Publishers, Ages 4 to 6.
—Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Children's Literature

Curtis echoes Dr. Seuss's Oh, the Places You'll Go! in her latest collaboration with Cornell that laments and celebrates the agony and the ecstasy of being five years old. Rhythmic verses bounce along as the boy narrator lists his daily challenges, most involving the entropic nature of childhood that flies in the face of etiquette and hygiene: "It's hard to be five. Just yelled at my brother. / My mind says do one thing, / my mouth says another." As ever, Cornell's hilarious, detail-rich illustrations effervesce with amusing asides that catapult the engaging but unspectacular verse to another level. A couple of clunky lines ("My body's my car, / and I'm licensed to steer") are, like the subtitle, perplexing and overly adult. Still, children will relate to this vivacious tale of a boy who likes to stay dirty, pretend to be a ninja, and bite his friends-but, on the brighter side, builds things, grows things, and says "thank you" and "please." (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews