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

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