(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. An Asian American teacher tells her diverse group of students about the items her immigrant great-grandmother brought to the U.S.; she invites each student to list the objects he or she would pack (and readers are invited to fill a pop-up suitcase at book's end). Curtis's sunny messages about immigration, identity, and familial roots buoy the unremarkable rhymes. Cornell's watercolors are filled with zany details.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. 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.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. This compendium of all things Jamie Lee Curtis includes four of her picture books: When I Was Little, I'm Gonna Like Me, Where Do Balloons Go?, and Is There Really a Human Race? Some of the stories are stronger than others. Games, activities, and music, plus a CD of the songs and the stories read by Curtis, are also included.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. A rhyming text introduces readers to more than a dozen polysyllabic words (cooperate, different, disgusting). Curtis isn't at her best here: readers will already know most of the featured words, and several rhymes are grammatically mystifying ("Responsible people try not to forget / to water Mom's bonsai or the table to set"). Fortunately, Cornell's exuberant kid-celebrating art is up to snuff.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. "It's hard fun to be five" is the final consensus of the young narrator, having run through the pros (more independence, more self-control) and cons (lots of changes, grownups' expectations) of being his age. Though Curtis's rhyming text is choppy and unfocused at times, it's an upbeat and fairly astute synopsis of a five-year-old's behavior, complemented by Cornell's scrappy, humorous color cartoons.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. "I'm gonna like me when I'm sharing my lunch / 'cause just like bananas friends come in a bunch." In alternating voices, a young boy and girl proclaim that each likes him or herself when "I do the right thing" and when "I make a mistake." The rhyming text bounces along offering plenty of platitudes. The lively illustrations, while hectic, add substance to the self-esteem-boosting one-note premise.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. After letting go of his big purple balloon, a boy ponders, in snappy rhyme, the fate of all such airborne castaways: "Are they always alone? Do they meet up in pairs? / Do they ever get married and make balloon heirs?" The busy street scenes of Cornell's ink-and-watercolor illustrations match the ebullient whimsy of Curtis's hero.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. Curtis's rhyming text and Cornell's lively illustrations create a portrait of an exuberant and very real little girl who one moment feels joyful, excited, or happy and the next bad, sad, cranky, or confused. This humorous look at the subject of feelings and moods features a curly-haired heroine whose independent spirit is reminiscent of Thompson and Knight's Eloise.

Reviewer: Jennifer Polshek