Product Description

A little boy can’t wait to get his first lunch box.‘He imagines what he could keep in a lunch box and even dreams a splendidly illustrated dream in which he has a different colored and shaped box for each day of the week. A straightforward story about a rite of passage." —K.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #438395 in Books
• Published on: 1993-08-30
• Released on: 1993-08-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1 A black girl is beginning first grade and getting all sorts of goodies, in particular a lunch box for which her little brother yearns with a single-minded passion. However, his mother says that he must wait until he starts school. This rather slim plot is fleshed out through a sequence in which the narrator dreams of a brightly-colored, imaginatively-shaped lunch box for each weekday. At last, on his sister's first day of school, their father surprises the boy with a spaceship lunch box of his own. Brightly patterned objects such as shoes, school supplies, marbles, animals, and of course decorated lunch boxes float through the vividly-colored pages. The simple text makes the story suitable for preschoolers. The drama of family relationships is honestly portrayed, although the issue of whether the father has contradicted the mother, which may bother some parents, is buried in the happy ending. Leda Schubert, Vermont Department of Education, Montpelier
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Jeannette Franklin Caines is the author of Chilly Stomach and Just Us Women, a Reading Rainbow Book, as well as several other highly acclaimed picture books about children and their families. She is also the recipient of the National Black Child Development Institute's Certificate of Merit and Appreciation.

Ms. Caines grew up in Harlem and now lives in Freeport, Long Island.

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Experience
I Need A Lunch Box is great for teaching about colors and various environmental elements, such as things related to the ocean, the dessert, and every day materials. It's filled with imaginative illustrations. The story line is nice.

Imaginitive enough for my little guys
My boys love this book. I had to read it over and over again for my oldest on, and now again with our younger one. The bright colorful pictures catch their eyese. The story told from the point of view of a very young child seemed easily relatable to my little ones. Not onl is it a good book with fantastic pictures, it helps teach the days of the week and colors.

I have no idea what the other reviewer is talking about. This is a good children's book no matter what color your children are.

Sibling Rivalry
Doris is shopping for her first grade school supplies. Her parents buy her a new raincoat, pencils, and a lunch box. Her little brother is certain he needs a lunch box just as much as Doris. He dreams about a different lunch box for every day of the week. In the end he gets his lunch box and a hug from his sister. This brightly illustrated book is a simple story about family and sibling rivalry.

Illustrated and written by the same duo that created the award winning book Just us Women, the non-library bound version has an illustration of the Boy, whose story this is, on the front. Apparently Amazon.com does not carry that version. It also has a write-up about the committment of Caines and Cummings to creating books that are role models for black children. That is the copy I purchased.

The 3 rating is based on the fact that, as a reader and storyteller, I prefer imaginative stories.