ALA Booklist (Fri Nov 01 00:00:00 CST 2002)

Reviewed with Paula Danziger's It's a Fair Day, Amber Brown .Gr. 1-3. Worried because the new second-grade teacher really wants to teach in high school and calls elementary school kids knee biters, Amber and her friends anticipate the worst in Get Ready . Ms. Light, however, turns out to be as bright as her name and as wonderful as Ms. Frizzle and Lilly's Mr. Slinger. In Fair Day Amber plans to have a perfect day as she and her parents go to a county fair along with her friend Justin and his family. Upset by her parents' constant arguing, Amber wanders off, becomes lost, and is soon found. Cotton candy, riding the merry-go-round, and winning prizes turn Amber's Fair Day into an almost-perfect day. Although told with Danziger's characteristic humor, both books portray very real situations, fears, and apprehensions that new readers will readily recognize. They will admire Amber's spirit and spunk, laugh at the wordplay and, like second-grade Amber, soon be ready for chapter books.

Horn Book

Readers join Amber Brown as she begins second grade and as she spends a day at the county fair with her parents and her best friend Justin's family. As always, life for Amber is mixed--wonderful moments are tempered with worries. Danziger's lively prose accompanied by Ross's cartoons make these books as easy to read as they are easy to like. [Review covers these A Is for Amber titles: Get Ready for Second Grade, Amber Brown and It's a Fair Day, Amber Brown.]

Kirkus Reviews

First- and second-grade teachers (and their students) will be especially interested in this laugh-out-loud, first-person story of Amber's first days in second grade. Ross continues his significant contribution to the A Is for Amber easy reader series with his expressive watercolor-and-ink illustrations that always set a cheerful, humorous tone. Danziger ( It's a Fair Day, Amber Brown , below, etc.), with her pitch-perfect view of a child's emotions, zeroes in on all the anxieties of a new school year: an unknown new teacher, uncertainty about friends, a snotty queen bee, and a teddy bear backpack that invites teasing comments. Amber's new teacher is a delight: Ms. Light, a denim-clad, hip lady with light-up lightbulb earrings and lots of information about light and electricity. (Move over, Ms. Frizzle!) The members of the second-grade class are introduced with Danziger's deadpan, punny humor: Freddie, who can do armpit music; Fredrich, who picks his nose; and Hannah, who clearly has her claws out for Amber. Before long, Amber stands up to Hannah Burton ("Look, Hannah BURPton. Stop it") and, in a satisfying conclusion, vows with confidence that she'll be reading chapter books before long because she is indeed ready for second grade. The stage is set for more tales about Ms. Light's Bright Lights, and Amber's adoring fans will be ready for more second-grade fun. (Easy reader. 5-9)

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3 The characters in these prequels for beginning readers lose nothing from their original portrayals in the longer books for older children. In Get Ready , Danziger effortlessly guides young Amber through an encounter with the unknown as a second grader. The child confesses her fearswill her new teacher give "seven hours of homework?What if she's an alien from some foreign planet?" A ray of light shines on her as she begins classMs. Light. The woman calms worries with ease, and the "Bright Lights" include all of her students, in particular a newly confident Amber. Childlike conversations and humor capture the highlights of the school day. In the second title, a trip to a county fair includes the Browns and the family of Amber's friend Justin Daniels, but all is not well between her mother and father. The author's gift for characterization places Amber's emotions before readers; an escape from the tensions between her parents creates a potentially dangerous moment when she loses her way at the fair. The book's puns and kid-oriented humor target a serious topic with childlike truthfulness and simplified text. In both books, Ross's watercolor-and-pen illustrations emphasize the action and emotions. Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX