School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A boy decides that every day should be Jammie Day in this clever picture book. Cliffy, the middle child in a cluster of five siblings, often goes unnoticed. His older brother and sister think they know everything, while his younger brother and sister are quite clueless. One day, after being ignored all morning, Cliffy is finally noticed when his mom tells him to get dressed for school. "'It's Jammie Day,' said Cliffy. 'Oh?' said his mom. She might not have been paying attention." This refrain of not paying attention is repeated again and again by his teacher, mother, and father. The other kids in his class, however, are paying attention. Soon it becomes Jammie Week, then Jammie Month, and finally Jammie Year. It turns out being a middle child definitely has its perks. Pencil-and-watercolor illustrations match well with the text, and readers will enjoy watching more and more children dressing in jammies. VERDICT This fun book is a perfect choice for pajama storytimes, or to be read during Jammie Day at school.-Brooke Newberry, La Crosse Public Library, WI © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A middle child takes advantage of adults' distractedness. Cliffy has a big brother and a big sister who think they know everything and a little brother and a little sister who know almost nothing. He's in between, and he knows his own mind. So one morning, when the before-school chaos is in full swing and Cliffy's harried mother tells him to get dressed, he does "something a little bit funny. A little bit fuzzy." He announces, "It's Jammie Day." Her response is the same as all the other adults' responses: "Oh?" accompanied by, "She might not have been paying attention." But his classmates take note, and in future days they too enjoy the perks of wearing jammies to school. And for Cliffy, Jammie Day turns into Jammie Month and Jammie Year, his white-with-rainbow-polka-dot pajamas showing increasing signs of wear. The final, wordless page shows the whole pajama-clad family, but Cliffy's fib remains unaddressed, so readers may come away with the idea that it's OK to use adults' distraction for personal advantage. And really, no matter how many kids in the family or in the class, what adult is truly not going to notice a kid who wears the same thing every day? Cliffy and his family are white; his class is a diverse one. Maybe one to share on an actual school Jammie Day, but caregivers may want to be on the alert afterward. (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
