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This book is filled with poems about doing or trying things for the first time. The poems had a good rhythm and a good amount of rhymes. The poems were about things like riding a sled for the first time and a cat having kittens and also mixing blue and yellow paint together only to discover it makes green. ( )

Booklist 11/1/1995

Ages 3^-5. There are many milestones on the road to growing up. Big ones, like learning to walk, are widely recognized. But smaller triumphs, like learning to skip, often go unmarked. These 14 gentle poems express a child's delight in the little discoveries and steps of growth that make up daily life for the young. Subjects include pleasant events, such as wearing new sneakers, holding a kitten, and learning that blue and yellow make green, as well as unpleasant ones, such as biting a sour pickle and popping a balloon. One poem celebrates a night without fear of the monster in the corner: 'Hey, He's not here / tonight. / No hairy bear in sight! / He's gone creeping to his / lair. / He knows I'm too big now / to scare.' Outgrowing one's clothes is particularly sweet: '`I don't reach your knees'/ the coat complained. / `Whatever did you do?' / `Coat,' I explained, / `I grew.'' The softly rhymed, uncomplicated verses are well spaced on white backgrounds. Amiable crayon-and-watercolor drawings show children of differing ethnicities doing new things and being pleased about it. Little ones should give this volume a warm reception. --Leone McDermott

Horn Book Guide 3/1/1996

Fiction: NF Age: PS A well-crafted collection of fourteen poems celebrates things children experience for the first time, like learning to skip, overcoming one's fear of the dark, and breaking in new sneakers. Told from a first-person perspective, the poems seem childlike and are appropriate for the intended age group. Hoban's mixed media illustrations aptly capture the soft tone of Moore's poetry. Horn Rating: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration. Reviewed by: aam

Personal Review:

A simple, yet beautiful collection of poems that recognize and praise several common things that so many of us experienced as children. The fourteen poems are an excellent way to introduce the basics of poetry. The colorful illustrations in mixed media include a variety of characters representing cultural diversity. ( )