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This week's reviews

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It’s all about good behavior …(P)
The Golden Rule by Ilene Cooper/illustrated by Gabi Swiatowska (Abrams, $16.95, first-grade level). ISBN: 9780810909601.(P)
The author takes the widely held Golden Rule, a feature of most religions, and uses it as the basis of a discussion between a child and his grandfather.(P)

The two are walking one day when they come upon a billboard that features the wording of the Golden Rule most familiar to Christians. The old man explains the phrase and its origin to the boy, who wonders what it means. The old man gives concrete examples anchored in the boy’s world and then offers versions of the Golden Rule from various religions. The boy shares a wish that all men would follow this rule.(P)

As a teacher I never feared to tread on these types of discussions so I wish I would have had this book long ago. Cooper disabuses me of the incorrect assumption that the Golden Rule is proprietary to Christians, which makes it even more valuable as an anchor for behavior. A classroom rule set that featured this rule would go a long way toward setting a high standard for behavior.(P)
Didn’t Didn’t Do It by Bradford Morrow/illustrated by Gaha Wilson (Putnam, $16.99, first-grade level). ISBN: 9780399244803.(P)
A group of kids bent on building a tree house have a great deal of difficulty working together.(P)
The kids change their mind, get distracted, take different approaches, amend their process, ruin the plans – basically they do everything to sabotage their original intent. The birds don’t seem to mind.(P)
The word play in this book is so intense I got a headache, and this from a guy who loves wordplay. In fact, I enjoyed the word play so much I had a hard time figuring out what the story was about. Kids may not be that easily distracted but they sure will have fun reading this book aloud and repeating its criss-crossed prohibitions.(P)
Would I Ever Lie to You? by Caralyn Buehner/illustrated by Jack E. Davis (Dial, $16.99, first-grade level). ISBN: 9780803727939.(P)
A boy lives in constant doubt because his cousin, a gifted liar, instills doubt at every turn.(P)
The cousin, Ed, knows that good liars must make their lies a combination of truth and falsehood and that they must intersperse their lies with outrageous but accurate facts. The boy on the receiving end of these tales gets little support from his parents, who let Ed work his magic. Eventually, the tables are turned.(P)

When my wife and I first started dating I told her that 95 percent of the things I would share with her would be lies, so I wanted to be honest about my lying. She and her friends later amended that percentage to 99, accusing me of lying about lying. Such is the life of a liar, like Ed, whom I consider to be a rank amateur.(P)

Although Ed appears to dominate his younger cousin, it is the youngster who is in effect a better liar because everyone assumes he is honest. This book is not a moral treatise, more a humorous way to deliver comeuppance to smart-aleck kid.(P)
Little Neighbors on Sunnyside Street by Jessica Spanyol (Candlewick Press, $16.99, first-grade level). ISBN: 9780763629861.(P)
A group of animals and insects enjoy lively exchanges in their neighborhood.(P)
The neighbors eat, learn, play and share on this raucous street. The adults pretty much stay out of the way, allowing the kids to be kids.(P)
This is a wonderful transition book for new readers getting ready for chapter books. Spanyol turns each short segment (1-4 pages) into a chapter of sorts, though the links between the chapters are quite fluid. I sat with my 5-year-old son and read this book from cover to cover one night. The stories resonated with him in a way that surprised me, mainly because the behaviors of the characters were exactly like those evinced by him and his classmates.(P)
The Just-Right, Perfect Present by Frances Kennedy/illustrated by Sheila Aldridge (Tricycle Press, $14.95, second-grade level). ISBN: 9781582461991.(P)
Two children compete to recite a perfect poem on their grandparents’ 50^th wedding anniversary.(P)
This large family marks the birth of every child with an apple tree. Under the shade of this growing orchard, the grandparents invite everyone for their big celebration. Cousin John steals cousin Donna’s thunder by announcing he’ll recite her favorite poem, but Donna responds with a gem that touches her grandparents’ hearts.(P)
I love books that reach across the generations to confirm traditions and values of an extended family. Kennedy, who anchors this book in the experiences of her own family, hits just the right key here.(P)
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David Ross is a 10-year veteran classroom teacher who works as an educational consultant for the Buck Institute for Education and various other state and national organizations. In the fall of 2005 he launched his own staff development firm, specializing in project-based learning (www.novelapproachpbl.com). He is completing his PhD in education at UC Davis. You can contact him at dcpross@comcast.net