The Way I Act
Steve Metzger
Paperback
(Scholastic, March 15, 2011)
A companion to Cain s award-winning 2000 title, The Way I Feel, The Way I Act uses detailed illustrations, type faces and vivid color to complement the simple verses that explain character traits like compassion and bravery. With verses created by Metzger, The Way I Act follows the pattern established by The Way I Feel, introducing a wide variety of character traits, including some not usually attributed to young children. Metzger s carefully crafted text is sensitive and free of bias and slang. Together with Cain s sometimes zany characters, The Way I Act shows scenarios that kids can identify with peering at bugs with a magnifying glass, making a bed, finishing a puzzle, sweeping up a mess. The text cites even more examples that define words such as curious, responsible, persistent and capable. As Metzger points out, the scenarios on each two-page spread let kids imagine how they might act on a curlicue slide, when meeting new children, when an elderly grandparent needs help. Chicago-based Cain made her debut with The Way I Feel, now available in Spanish as Asàme siento yo, and as a board book. In print: almost 1.5 million copies. She is also the author of Roonie B. Moonie (Illumination Arts). Metzger, an executive with Scholastic Inc., has written more than 60 books for preschoolers, most published by Scholastic.