It's Hard to Be Five

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.