Mr. Ouchy's First Day [Hardcover]

B. G. Hennessy (Author), Paul Meisel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Mr. Ouchy is nervous about his first day of school . . . even though he’s the teacher! Will his students like him? Will he be able to find the bathroom? What if he can’t remember his students’ names? Fortunately, his classroom keeps him busy; his students have plenty of their own questions, and the first day of school turns into a great day discussing things like Mr. Ouchy’s funny name, how long a minute really lasts, and what everyone wants to learn in the upcoming year—things like whistling, playing drums and drawing dinosaurs.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 1–Mr. Ouchy is looking forward to his first day as a teacher, and while he is excited, he is also worried. Will he remember his students' names, will he be able to find his classroom, or even the bathroom? When the big day arrives, he is so busy answering his class's myriad questions that his nervousness evaporates and he and the students have a great day. This story is for a slightly younger audience than Julie Danneberg's First Day Jitters (Charlesbridge, 2000); it has a simpler vocabulary and sentence structure. Meisel's watercolor, gouache, and pen-and-ink illustrations have a cozy feel and not only amplify humorous situations, but also sometimes create them when the text does not. For example, the picture accompanying a little girl's request to learn how to train her cat shows an orange tabby perched coyly on the edge of a toilet seat while reading the newspaper. This picture book is a good choice to share when trying to keep the stress that can accompany that first day for both kids and teachers to minimum levels.–Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 2. Kids find it hard to think of teachers as having a life outside the classroom. This cheerful picture book humanizes the new teacher and connects him with his students by putting a different slant on that scary first day of school. Mr. Ouchy is nervous. When the kids play with his name ("Does it rhyme with 'grouchy?'"), he tells them to call him Mr. O. They learn lessons about telling time, counting, and reading, and Mr. O. listens to when they talk about what they want to learn. In watercolor, gouache, and pen-and-ink, the pictures take children into a busy, lively classroom, where kids work together and do what interests them--from making doughnuts, swinging on a trapeze, and training a cat to hitting a home run. That night Mr. O.'s mom calls to find out if he got a haircut and ask about his first day. "My class is the best," he says. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (July 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399242481
• ISBN-13: 978-0399242489
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,244,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

B. G. Hennessy has authored over 35 children's books including the entire series of CORDUROY lift-the-flap books. With nearly four million books in print in ten languages, her writing awards and honors include two Parenting Magazine Reading Magic Awards an IRA/Children's Choice Award Book and a Best Book of the Year by the Bank Street College of Education. She recently authored CORDUROY LOST AND FOUND, a companion to Don Freeman's beloved Corduroy bear series. More information on her books can be found at www.bghennessy.com. Ms. Hennessy lives in Paradise Valley, Arizona with her family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A story about a new teacher's first day of teaching on the first day of the school year., January 27, 2007

By 

Marci Twain (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Ouchy's First Day (Hardcover)

I liked this book. The text was adequate, and the illustrations were pretty good. They worked well together. The book is 26 scenes long. Some scenes were 2 pages wide, and others were less than a page.

The story is about Mr. Ouchy (pronounced like Grouchy) who is nervous about his first day of teaching. It follows Mr. Ouchy from the day before to the end of the day he began his career as a teacher. And his mom still looks over him just like the mothers of his students look over them.

I would have liked the book better if the main character had been a female elementary school teacher and not such a mamma's boy. And I think the text could have been better by emphasizing the bigger aspects of the story rather than getting caught up in dialog. 4 stars!

5.0 out of 5 stars MY 5 YEAR OLD'S FAVORITE, November 9, 2006

By 

Lucille Sikes "Lucy" (LOUISVILLE, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Ouchy's First Day (Hardcover)

I bought this when my son started at a new school. He was anxious about the new place, new school, and new friends. It quickly became his favorite (and made him realize that even teachers get nervous when school starts). I have recommended it to others and they think it is fabulous