The Big Test

July 1, 2011

K-Gr 2-Mrs. Hartwell's students have been working hard all year, but they are not sure they can deal with the Big Test. The week before it is slated, their teacher tells them they have just a few more things to learn. They need to know how to sit still for long periods of time, how to fill in the bubbles on the answer sheet, and how to follow directions. At each turn, the kids worry and get headaches, stomachaches, and other maladies. On Thursday, Mrs. Hartwell lines up her class and marches them down the hall to the library. The sign on the door says, "Library Closed: Students Testing." But inside it's a test party. The students get to play and relax and eat. This works so well that no one is sick anymore and they breeze through the actual Big Test on Friday. The illustrations, done in ink and transparent dyes on watercolor paper, are priceless. The children's faces clearly express all the agony that the situation requires. The youngsters appear to be about second or third graders. This title will be popular in school and public libraries.-Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2011
Grades 1-3 Books about school anxiety, especially the first day of school, abound, but this take is refreshing for its unusual focus on testing-related anxiety. After Mrs. Hartwell explains that they have to know how to show what you know, the class tackles one skill daily: sitting still and working individually, reading all the directions, filling in answer bubbles, and more. The multicultural kids' facial expressionsperplexed, worried, determined, and relieved once the test is overaptly convey their experience. Standardized testing is an accepted reality in most public schools; this portrayal effectively reassures students that anxiety and challenges are normal and common, and can be overcome.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2012
It gradually dawns on teacher Mrs. Hartwell that her test-preparation drills are freaking out the students, making her (not them) the one who ultimately learns a lesson. The text strains for a child's voice ("Double, triple, quadruple yuck"), the art for humor--but the story line shows that both author and illustrator respect kids. Maybe test-obsessed educators will take the hint.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)