It's Hard to Be Five: Learning How to Work My Control Panel

It's hard to be five.
Just yelled at my brother.
My mind says do one thing.
My mouth says another.

It's fun to be five!
Big changes are here!
My body's my car,
and I'm licensed to steer.

Learning not to hit? Having to wait your turn? Sitting still? It's definitely hard to be five. But Jamie Lee Curtis's encouraging text and Laura Cornell's playful illustrations make the struggles of self-control a little bit easier and a lot more fun!

This is the sixth inspired book from the #1 New York Times best-selling team of Today I Feel Silly: & Other Moods That Make My Day and I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self Esteem.

"The creative team behind Today I Feel Silly amiably addresses the challenges of being a five-year-old — especially the pesky problem of learning self-control. In the story's wry opening, the narrator observes, 'It's hard to be five. I'm little no more. Good old days are gone. 'Bye one, two, three, four.' Among the trials he faces are controlling his temper when dealing with his younger brother ('My mind says do one thing, my mouth says another'), avoiding dirt and starting school ('School seems so scary. School seems so strange. I'm only five. My whole world's going to change'). Curtis's singsong verse also focuses on some of the pluses of being five: though his brother is strapped into a stroller, the hero can walk by himself ('It's fun to be five! Big changes are here! My body's my car, and I'm licensed to steer') and school entails some entertaining activities ('At five I'm a worker — a bee among bees. I build things and grow things, say thank you and please'). Cornell's buoyant, teeming spreads and spot illustrations convey the boundless energy and changeable moods of this likeable five-year-old with on-target, hyperbolic humor. Though the narrative winds to a rather corny close, this cheerful book with its clever visual details will surely appeal to fans of the collaborators' earlier books as well as those looking for a reassuring, age-appropriate tale for the kindergartner in their lives. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Cornell's hilarious, detail-rich illustrations effervesce with amusing asides that catapult the engaging but unspectacular verse to another level....[C]hildren will relate to this vivacious tale..." Kirkus Reviews

The beloved #1 New York Times bestselling team who created I'm Gonna Like Me is back with this look at how hard it is to be five years old. Curtis's rhyming verses and Cornell's playful illustrations make learning self-control a little bit easier — and a lot more fun. Full color.

< p> It's hard to be five.< br /> Just yelled at my brother.< br /> My mind says do one thing.< br /> My mouth says another.< /p> < p> It's fun to be five < br /> Big changes are here < br /> My body's my car, < br /> and I'm licensed to steer.< /p> < p> Learning not to hit? Having to wait your turn? Sitting still? It's definitely hard to be five. But Jamie Lee Curtis's encouraging text and Laura Cornell's playful illustrations make the struggles of self-control a little bit easier and a lot more fun < /p> < p> This is the sixth inspired book from the #1 < em> New York Times< /em> best-selling team of < em> Today I Feel Silly: & Other Moods That Make My Day< /em> and < em> I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self Esteem< /em> .< /p>

It's definitely hard to be five, but Jamie Lee Curtis's rhyming verses and Laura Cornell's playful illustrations make learning self-control a little bit easier and a lot more fun. This is the author/illustrator duo's sixth book for kids. Full color.

Jamie Lee Curtis is a critically-acclaimed and best-selling author. Her most recent book, Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day, enjoyed an extraordinary nine weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. It has sold over 750,000 copies to date. Other best-selling titles include Tell Me Again About The Night I Was Born and When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir Of Her Youth. Jamie Lee Curtis is the mother of Annie and Thomas. She has been married for 16 years to actor/director Christopher Guest.

Laura Cornell is the artist of over a dozen picture books, including Jamie Lee Curtis's Tell Me Again, When I Was Little, Today I Feel Silly, and Where Do Balloons Go? The first book she illustrated, in 1989, was Annie Bananie by Leah Komaiko. She lives in New York City.