I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont

Book Genre: General Fiction

Publishing Info.: Scholastic Inc., 32 pages

Awards or Honors Received: N/A

Summary: This is a hilarious book about a child (the story never reveals if the child is a boy or girl) who gets caught painting all over the walls, floor, and ceiling. The mama catches the child and hides the paint in the top of a closet. However, the child gets the paint again and paints all over his/her body. At the end of the book, the child uses all of the paint, and the story ends with the child in a bathtub covered with all different colors of paint.

Personal Rating and Reason for Rating: ****Great! This story is hilarious and the illustrations are filled with various colors. The rhyming pattern that this book has, along with the mischievous child, is sure to appeal to young readers. You can't help but love the cartoon-like faces that the child makes.

Reading Level: 2.5

Interest Level: K-2

Possible Uses of the Text in Integrated Units of Study (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum): This book could be used for several different subjects. The rhyming style certainly offers extra practice with rhyming words. Body parts are also discussed in this book as the child paints on himself/herself. This could be integrated into a health or science unit including study of the body. Many different colors are also used in this book, which could be part of a math or art lesson. During writing, children could paint a picture of themselves and write a story about a time when they did something that they shouldn't have been doing.
Potential Problems or Difficulties: There are a few problems that I seen with this book. First, the word ain't is used throughout. Children would probably need to be told that this is not proper grammar. Second, the book offers rhyming words and allows the reader to guess the body part. There is one rhyme that says "But I'm such a nut, gonna paint my", then it says "WHAT?!". Although the book does not say what the children think it is going to say, it still implies a certain body part. Third, in a couple of the illustrations, the child takes their underwear off, and their body is completely painted, with the exception of their white bottom. In one of the illustrations, the character is actually pointing to their bare bottom. This could pose a problem, particularly with parental preferences. These are a few things that teachers would definitely want to be aware of.