Don't Wear Polka-Dot Underwear with White Pants: (And Other Lessons I've Learned)

November 1, 2013

Gr 1-3-Eight-year-old Mandy Berr remembers her five years without siblings as the best time of her life. Now she has an annoying three-year-old brother, and the five-month-old twins take up way too much of her mother's time and are always "damp." Mandy also has to contend with Dennis, who makes fun of her in school for wearing polka dot underwear that shows through her white pants, and her teacher doesn't listen when Mandy asks to be George Washington in the second-grade's Presidential Pageant. During difficult days, she takes solace in her love for her toy cat/TV character Rainbow Sparkle; her stash of gummy bears; and everything periwinkle. She is given the role of narrator in the pageant, learns to compromise and rehearses well, and enjoys the feeling of success and the undivided attention of her parents at the event. A few black-and-white line illustrations appear throughout. Gutknecht portrays Mandy as a typical, egocentric second grader. While this early chapter book is not a necessary purchase, children will relate to the protagonist.-Annette Herbert, F. E. Smith Elementary School, Cortland, NY

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2013
Grades 2-4 Nobody listens to Mandy Berr, especially not her mother. Even though Mandy explained that the white pants her mom picked out were nothing but trouble, she had to wear them anyway, and now, after an unfortunate playground incident, she is saddled with the nickname Polka Dot. That is just one of the many inconveniences the put-upon second-grader encounters as she barrels through life with her attention-stealing siblingsa gross three-year-old brother and damp baby twinsnot to mention a teacher who does not understand that Mandy is destined to play George Washington in the class Presidential Pageant. Though Mandy walks the very fine line between childish single-mindedness and outright brattiness, debut novelist Gutknecht has nevertheless created a charming and realistic heroine who charges fearlessly into situations, learning lessons along the way (lessons that she helpfully collects for readers at the end of the story). The engaging, humorous writing will appeal to fans of Judy Moody, Junie B. Jones, and Ramona the Pest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)