PW: JUDGE JUDY SHEINDLIN'S WIN OR LOSE BY HOW YOU CHOOSE!

Mar 30, 2000

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JUDGE JUDY SHEINDLIN'S WIN OR LOSE BY HOW YOU CHOOSE!
-- 3/30/00

Judge Judy Sheindlin, illus. by Bob Tore. HarperCollins/Cliff Street, $14.95 (80p) ISBN 0-06-028780-2

The star of her own TV courtroom on the syndicated program Judge Judy, Sheindlin here pens her first book for children. Brief author's notes for parents and for kids introduce 36 open-ended multiple-choice questions designed to encourage discussion between a parent and child concerning decision-making and discerning right from wrong. Each question supposes a protagonist in a sticky situation ("All your friends are smoking. They are making fun of you because you are not. You should¦"; "You are home alone and someone knocks on the door. You should¦"). A list of four possible plans of action follow each scenario. The choices introduce several gray areas, and in some cases more than one answer could be right--it would be up to the parent to discuss with the child which route they would prefer their son or daughter to take. For instance, the knock-on-the-door example offers both "A. Not answer the door" and "B. Ask who it is and open the door only if you know him or her"--the "correct" answer would depend on how the parent has instructed the child to act. Sheindlin, uncharacteristically, refrains from handing down her decision here, or describing what g s into the decision-making process. Her assortment of situations demonstrates a familiarity with her audience and the issues they face, but the volume is designed to work best when an adult reads it with the child. Chipper cartoon line art by Tore gives these proceedings a fun look, which may help kids see the book as more than a good-for-them exercise. Ages 7-12. (Feb.)
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A version of this article appeared in the 03/27/2000 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: