I’ve never looked at any Katie Woo books before despite seeing them in the school library. They are on a first grade reading level, which is terrific. It’s actually pretty hard to find things from the library that little readers can handle on their own. While I’m usually in favor of any books depicting minority characters, I have a marked preference for those written by people who share the culture of their character. Sadly, this is not the case with the Katie Woo series.
This particular book was about as dull for adults to read as you would expect. Katie makes a big mess, gets frightened by a storm, hides in a closet and is extremely proud of herself. I was a bit irritated that her parents didn’t particularly mind that she made a huge mess and wasted food, but I expect the students who are capable of reading this independently won’t notice or mind.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to find this but if you’ve got a little reader, this might not be the worst choice you could make. Adults and teachers might enjoy the stove-free recipe in the back, the glossary of hard vocabulary words, the discussion questions and writing prompts.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Katie slips and hurts her knees.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
