So What?

by Miriam Cohen

Book Overview

Jim is upset because he can't hang upside down on the jungle gym without holding on. Everyone else can. He is also shorter than his classmates and no one wants to join his club. Elinor Woodman, the new girl from Chicago, says, "So what?" Jim is mad at Elinor and wishes he were more like everyone else. Will he find that Elinor was right after all?

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688012035
• ISBN13: 9780688012038
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Anxiety Confidence book

Checked this book out from the library and I can tell you it is amazing! It helped the self- confidence of some of my kiddos tremendously!

Changed the way my daughter handles conflict

I think this book is about average as a story. However, my daughter's kindergarten teacher recommended this to us because she thought my daughter was "taking things too hard" when interacting with other kids. The message of the book is that you can choose to take things hard or just say (inside your head) "so what" when kids do things that hurt your feelings. For an overly sensitive kid this is a freeing message. I read this with my daughter and she got it right away. She started coming home with stories about how she said "so what" when kids said things that hurt her at school. She started out saying it outloud to the other kids and we had to discuss how this can provoke more teasing or conflict. Now she knows to say it to herself. Obviously, this strategy is not for every situation and we discussed when it is best used and when to talk things over with us or take other actions. Overall, it was a very helpful change and she is happier for it. What better recommendation can a book get?

The Freedom to be Me!

Miriam Cohen really does a wonderful job with her books! This one is no exception to that rule! As a first grade teacher I would say she hit the nail on the head here! It teaches a valuable lesson in a gentle, easy to understand way! It presents many opportunities throughout to focus on some of the difficulties associated with being a new first grader! It also is a great lead-in to a beginning of the year unit on the celebration of being me! It shares the importance of being unique and free!