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

Written by Jamie Lee Curtis

Narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Today I Feel Silly and I'm Gonna Like Me, returns with It’s Hard to Be Five, a story of self-control and learning to do your best every day!

Learning not to hit? Having to wait your turn? Sitting still? It's hard to be five!

But Jamie Lee Curtis's encouraging text makes the struggles of self-control a little bit easier and a lot more fun. Kids will laugh in recognition of siblings, classmates, and friends—and maybe even themselves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 26, 2007
• ISBN: 9780061232398

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis has had many firsts: her first (and only) marriage to Christopher Guest, her first time holding her children, Annie and Tom, her first time pretending to be a customer in an episode of Quincy, and her first time she wrote words that became her first book. She lives in Los Angeles, the first city she ever lived in, and is always first in line, first to arrive, first to leave, and first to sleep.

Reviews for It's Hard to Be Five

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

You might think from the description that this is going to preachy or saccharine. It's not. It's very funny, and I definitely recommend it to every family with a kindergartner or 4-5 year old child. Even girl child - you should see some of the hi-jinks the boy's classmates get into, both the boys and the girls. I especially laughed at the page spread about the glory of dirt, and the recurrent mini-episodes showing how good a big brother our hero is. The book never does exactly explain 'my control panel' in so many words - maybe you want to ask your child what that subtitle means.

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This picture book is about being 5 years old - no longer a baby but still sometimes (perhaps frequently) struggling with acting the right way. In particular, the narrator laments about the difficulty of keeping cool in tough situations, like when someone is hogging a toy or cuts in line. Hey, even for us adults, things like this can get us upset, but most of us have learned to react in ways that don't involve hitting or biting.This book does show a lot of positives as well as the negatives of being five -- like increased independence and knowledge about the world. For myself, the pictures are bit too cartoonish and overwhelming in their free form and extraneous details, but this series seems to be a hit with young kids. My niece, who is herself 5, absolutely loves this book and always wants me to read it to her over and over again. Other children I've read this book with also enjoyed it.

[kburdg1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“It’s Hard to Be Five” tells the story of a five year old boy that is learning how to control both his physical and mental state of being. This book would fit into the category of a picture book, under the genre of contemporary realistic fiction. The central message is that it is hard to control your actions when you are five years old, but it also teaches children how to work through this age and behave appropriately. I really enjoyed this story because I believe it did a great job of connecting with children of this age. Five year old children can be viewed as disobedient, but the truth is that they act on impulse rather than thinking things through; as the story states, “My mind says to do one thing. My mouth says another.” The layout of the book, both the pictures and the text, were very relatable for children as well. The pictures played a large role in the story as they illustrated the experiences the boy was going through at that particular stage. The book also has a “pre-story” through the illustrations before the text even starts. Throughout the story, the text was constantly changing: horizontally, vertically or diagonal across the page; thrown randomly in no particular order; written from large to small, or vice versa. This relates to five-year-old children as they are also very random, constantly changing in moods and behaviors.

[roxygamboa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lets start by saying that this book is from the #1 New York Times Best Selling Team. "It's Hard To Be Five" was one of the cutest children's books I've read and the illustrations are just fantastic. This book describes the "difficult times" kids go through when they are five. This truly helps me understand a child's perceptive at the age. This book will help me when I become a teacher and help me understand exactly what kids are thinking and talking about.

[matthewbloome · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good. I liked it. Illustrations were more interesting than the text for my kids who picked to the pictures to pieces. Nice, short read.

[bereneezypie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a cute book about a boy who talks about (you guessed it!) how hard it is to be five. I liked the way the book layout changed sometimes (there were pages that you had to tilt to read and so forth) and I loved the ending when he talked about all the fun things that come with being five.

[johniece · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is great for children who are starting kindergarten. Even though school can be quite scary, it is also a place to learn, have fun, and meet new people.

[kdemott_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I didn't love the wording and confusing illustrations but it is a good book for children starting kindergarten.

[alswartzfager · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a fantastic book. The illustrations are amazing. The book is about a boy who is 5 and everything that he is learning at this point in his life. At the beginning he is scared, however towards the end he learns how exciting it is to get older and to be able to do things on your own. This is a wonderful book for kindergarteners learning to adjust to their new lifestyles. Also the books rhymes so it would be great to integrate that into a learning discussion too.

[simss_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is about a boy who turns five and wants to do things by hiself without anybody's help.My personal experience is when I was five I wanted to be independent and do things on my own.Classroom extensions are have students write about when they were five years old.

[the_hag · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

think what's best about It's Hard to Be Five is that it gets right to the heart of what it is like to be five in a way that isn't condescending or patronizing...it's written in language that is engaging and that kids can relate to easily. The pictures are colorful and zany...very high energy, in all of her books, I think the art really goes a long way toward bringing the message to life for the readers (or listeners, as the case may be as they make excellent read aloud material). At an age where they want to be more "grown up" and independent, yet they still have trouble choosing big-boy (or girl) behavior over the instinctual "little kid" gut reactions, this book is a welcome way to let kids know that what they are feeling is normal while encouraging them to be the big-girl (or boy) that they are! Overall, I give it five stars, The art work and text work seamlessly creating a book that is fun to read and a feast for the eyes. My kids just love poring over the pictures after we read these...there's so much to absorb that provides an additional layer of fun and enjoyment above and beyond the story!! I'd recommend It's Had To Be Five, it is a simply a fun way to explore the feelings many children experience as they become big boys and girls and are expected to act that way but they still FEEL like reacting in highly emotional and instinctual ways.

[paroof · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow, could my son relate to this book! Even the little brother in the book mirrored his life at home. Great pictures, great premise. Right on about being a five year old - according to my five year old.