Vetter, RK. I Don’t Want to Smile. 2023.

Guide to categories: Kid Review – review of books for elementary-aged and younger children

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Summary

This fourth book of the “Don’t Want To” series features a child who is sad with a little brother’s behavior. Laugh along as Grandma Brown shows him how she thinks he looks when he pouts. Read to see what happens in I Don’t Want to Smile! I Want to Pout! by RK Vetter, while you await the fifth title, I Don’t Want to Say I’m Sorry!
Author’s Note: This “Don’t Want To” series book, for ages 4-8+, is a wonderful tool for daycare or school staff, parents, and grandparents alike. It is also for children to read and enjoy independently!
The books of this series offer opportunities to gain oral language competency through discussion of the characters and storyline, to enjoy recognizing and pronouncing written words, to notice the sequence of letters in words, and to discover new word meanings, all helpful in strengthening reading comprehension.
Check the back cover of each book to see the Preview of Words to Enjoy Reading!

Purchase I Don’t Want to Smile on Amazon – https://amzn.to/3YSjiwq

My Kid Review

Vetter understands the feelings of young children and is able to successfully portray them on the pages of a picture book.

In I Don’t Want to Smile little brother breaks big brother’s piggy bank. Big brother goes through all the things his pout is like and then grandma names the same things – someone who’s eating sauerkraut, a trout, and a batter who’s struck out. Grandma suggests she’ll get a new piggy and that they should find a safer place to keep the piggy bank.

The storyline and accompanying illustrations are cute. Kids will enjoy having this book read to them. Readers could encourage the children to make faces like the ones big brother is making as a way to include young children in the story. 

I Don’t Want to Smile would be a good addition to the picture book section of a K-12 Christian school library. It is appropriate for preschool and early elementary students. 

I received a complimentary copy of I Don’t Want to Smile. This is my honest review. 

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