A+ for Big Ben in the New York Times

August 14th, 2015

BigBen_C_Oct16.indd“Ben, the youngest of three children in his family, can’t swim yet, or use chopsticks, or see much out the car window. His fifth grader sister gets a report card with marks, and his third grader brother “gets comments for his subjects,” but Ben gets nothing. This leaves the preschooler feeling glum, until his siblings take him “into the office” to remedy one of the gaps. “They type on the computer. They print on the printer.” And then they issue him his own report card, awarding A+’s for his achievements, like “tooth brushing” and “shoe tying” and, most important, “making us laugh.” This sweet and charmingly illustrated book takes seriously a preschooler’s need to feel that he is not left behind, while wittily defusing the reverence for grading that’s been creeping into elementary school culture.”

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