First Grade Takes a Test.

First Grade Takes a Test

Miriam Cohen, author; Ronald Himler, illustrator

Star Bright Books

The Star Building, 42-26 28th Street, Suite 2C, Long Island City,

NY 11101 1595720545 $15.95 www.starbrightbooks.com 1-800-788-4439

Written by Miriam Cohen, a defender of the emotional rights of children, and warmly illustrated by award-winning artist Ronald Himler, First Grade Takes a Test is a book for young children about keeping test-taking in perspective. When a lady from the principal's office brings a test to the first-grade class, the children have some trouble because none of the answers seem quite right. For example, one question says "Rabbits eat: [] lettuce [] dog food [] sandwiches", yet young George can't find "carrots" on the list--and he knows that if rabbits don't eat carrots, their teeth will grow too long and hurt them. When the test is over, Anna Maria goes to a special class because she did very well, which provokes unrest and even name-calling "Dummy!" among the other children. It takes the wisdom of their teacher to put the test results in their proper context. "The test doesn't tell everything. It doesn't tell all the things you can do! You can build things! You can read books! You can make pictures! You have good ideas! And another thing. The test doesn't tell you if you are a kind person who helps your friends. Those are important things." First Grade Takes a Test celebrates the importance of all types of learning--reading and math as well as social skills--and the importance of not reading too much into a rigorous but limited test, especially at a young age. Highly recommended.