First Day
 John Cooper
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 2002 ABC-123 Publishing
  ISBN: 0971147493


Heroes Start As Kids, they all had stars in their eyes & dreams. 9 year old Dewey, entering 4th Grade, certainly has.

Dewey Does is young, unafraid, believing he can do anything, be all things, he is full of awe & wonder, & his energy & love of life are contagious.

So here it is, the sixth game of the World Series & excitement has reached a fever pitch as The Hawk readies to pitch. Dewey is up at the batter's plate. Bang! Mr. D hits the ball deep into left field, with “home run” written all over it.

Mr. D streaks toward first base, then second & starts flying toward third. As he's sliding to the plate, the ball comes in just over his head, smacking loudly as it lands in the catcher's mitt. The catcher, the mitt with the ball & Mr. D collide. Catcher & umpire stand up from the crash, only Mr. D remains still & silent. Soon he is carried off on a stretcher. He won't be playing in the seventh game -- or will he?

“Dewey! It's time to wake up and smell the new day!” Dewey snuggles under his bedcovers, still dreaming, thinking that one of these days he's going to hear “...it's Gone!...the stadium erupt[s] into an explosion of cheers. I'm gonna pull my broken body around the bases...And I'm gonna be happy for the rest of my life.”

Dewey is nine years old & this is his story of his life, his family, his days, his friends & his room.

You become so involved in how Dewey is thinking about his world, that you are as surprised as he when the First Day of school arrives, & his Mom has cooked a weekend breakfast in celebration.

I particularly enjoyed Dewey's thinking about how a school building might feel over the summer, with all the kids & teachers & people gone.

There are so many things I'd like to tell you about after reading First Day, & being an “old woman” by Dewey's standards, I simply say, you have got to read what Dewey thinks about crying! It will leave you red eyed & chuckling.

If the next books in this Heroes Start As Kids Series are as good a First Day, then our youngsters have a new author to mentor them through their crowded lives.

Highly recommended reading -- Dewey's voice is authentic & easily understood -- First Day is a perfect gift for all kids in third grade as well as fourth.

More to come: In The Groove

Do visit Dewey's website: www.DeweyDoes.com
(01/26/03)

Rebecca