Stewie BOOM! Starts School

Stewie BOOM! Starts School by Christine Bronstein and illustrated by Karen l. Young    48 Pages

Starting school, be it preschool or kindergarten, is scary for kids. Especially for those who have stay-at-home moms. Stewie BOOM! is one of those kids.

Stewie is loud, sometimes cranky, and often comical. He has just been told by his Mommy and Daddy that tomorrow he will go to school. He’s anxious because he like structure but has no idea of what structure is during the school day.

His first day is a disaster. His teacher had to call Mommy to come get him, which made the teacher, Mommy, AND Stewie mad.  But as Stewie tosses and turns in his bed, he comes up with an ingenuous plan to help him with learning how school operates.

Designed for kids ages 3-6, the book also has an important section for adult: an interview “with two well-regarded child psychologists who give simple tips and practical advice” for parents.

This is a book that both children and parents can reap benefits. 

I give Stewie BOOM! Starts School 5 out of 5 stars.

Popular: Vintage Wisdom For A Modern Geek

Popular: Vintage Wisdom For A Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen, 259 pages

This is a memoir by Maya, who, right before her eighth grade year, discovers a 1950’s popularity guide written by former teen model, Betty Cornell.  At her mother’s suggestion, Maya decides to follow the advice in the book and keep notes to see if the advice from the 1950’s would hold true in today’s world.  Maya is someone who considers herself unpopular, one of the social outcasts in her school.  Each month she takes a different chapter from the book and follows the advice from that chapter.  She changes her diet, hairstyles, and clothes and starts wearing makeup.  She also starts to talk to kids she never would have approached before.  This book is written in a diary format and follows each month through so we get to see which changes Maya is trying to bring about and how they are affecting her life.  This book is actually very funny and extremely well written, especially for such a young person.  I really enjoyed reading it and think that a lot of teens as well as adults would probably enjoy it.