From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2-First there was Jack Canfield's Chicken Soup for the Soul (1993), an adult bestseller and a trademark. This was expanded to include all ages and stages, one of which is "Chicken Soup for Little Souls." Here we have an adaptation of a story from Canfield's A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul (1996, all Health Communications), and it doesn't warm over very well. It is the story of a shy girl's first day at a new school, in picture-book format. Julie is so nervous while waiting for the bus that she thinks a boy is taking cookies from her bag. She later discovers that he has shared his own cookies when she finds her bag intact. The realistically colored illustrations are pleasant, but the story is moralistic and poorly written. If patrons are looking for freshness and life and, well, soul, recommend Rebecca Caudill's A Pocketful of Cricket (Holt, 1989) or Taro Yashima's Crow Boy (Viking, 1955), two of the many good stories about shy children in new schools.
Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, MECopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Lisa McCourt has always worked in children's publishing and has written over a dozen books for children. She was one of the three finalists for the coveted 1995 LMP Award recognizing excellece in children's publishing and one of her recent books was featured on CNN as exemplary children's book.
