Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Mar. 1, 2002 (Vol. 98, No. 13))
Mean Jean is the playground bully ("she pushed kids and smooshed kids, / lollapalooshed kids, / hammered 'em, slammered 'em, / kitz and kajammer 'em"). No one can stand up to her, until new kid Katie Sue arrives. Freckled, bespectacled, pig-tailed Katie Sue asks the bully to jump rope and be her friend ("I like ice cream / I like tea, / I want Jean to / jump with me!"), and everything changes. OK, kids know that schoolyard power games aren't that easily solved, but they'll enjoy seeing the bully as needy, and they will recognize how everything can suddenly shift. The physicalness of the words makes the wild nonsense rhyme great for reading aloud and joining in, and the brilliantly colored, computer-generated art captures the yelling playground mayhem that's both scary and wonderful. Category: Books for the Young--Fiction. 2002, Scholastic, $15.95. Ages 3-6.

Denise Daley (Children's Literature)
Mean Jean the Recess Queen is the playground bully. All of the school children are fearful of Mean Jean and nobody ever questions her leadership. That is, until Katie Sue comes to school. Katie Sue is a small child with a big smile and lots of courage. When the recess bell rings, Katie bravely and unknowingly does all of the things that Mean Jean forbids. Mean Jean is very angered by this and she attempts to set the record straight. Unphased, Katie Sue pulls out a jump rope and asks Mean Jean to play with her. All of the other kids stare in disbelief. Apparently, none of the other children had ever asked Mean Jean to play with them. Katie Sue is blissfully ignorant. Will her innocence and determination win Mean Jean over? Will the playground ever be a place where children can happily and peacefully play? Told entirely in rhyme, young children will surely enjoy the heart-warming and encouraging story just as much as they enjoy the colorful acrylic and collage illustrations. 2002, Scholastic Press, $15.95. Ages 4 to 8.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2001 (Vol. 69, No. 24))
Positing that bullies only act that way because they're lonely, O'Neill ("Loud Emily", 1998) puts seemingly meek, new classmate Katie Sue up against aggressive Mean Jean, swaggering boss of the playground. Knowing but one way to deal with challengers ("she'd push 'em and smoosh 'em, / lollapaloosh 'em, / hammer 'em, slammer 'em, / kitz and kajammer 'em . . ."), Mean Jean roughly tries to set Katie Sue straight on the pecking order. But Katie Sue stands up to her with a cheeky, "How DID you get to be so bossy?" and pulls out a jump rope, inviting Mean Jean to jump along. Presto change-o, a friendship is born. Huliska-Beith's ("The Book of Bad Ideas", 2000, etc.) rubbery-limbed figures, rolling perspectives, and neon-bright colors reflect the text's informality as well as its frenzied energy. Though the suggested strategy works far more easily here than it would in real life, young readers will be caught up by Katie Sue's engaging, fizzy exuberance. 2002, Scholastic, $15.95. Category: Picture book. Ages 7 to 9. © 2001 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Janice M. Del Negro (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 2002 (Vol. 55, No. 7))
Mean Jean the Recess Queen is really a bully: “Nobody swung until Mean Jean swung. Nobody kicked until Mean Jean kicked. Nobody bounced until Mean Jean bounced.” That is, not until the arrival of teeny new girl Katie Sue, who doesn’t scare easy. When Mean Jean tries to set the record straight, “Katie Sue talked back! Just as sassy as could be, she said ‘How DID you get so bossy?’” Mean Jean chases after the irrepressible Katie, and, while the other kids stare in horrified fascination, Katie pulls a jump rope from her backpack and calls Mean Jean out: “I like ice cream, I like tea, I want Jean to jump with me!” Readers will see the end coming from way across the school yard--Mean Jean gives up her bullying ways because she’s having too much fun with her friends. O’Neill’s rhyming text bounces right along, however, and it should make a rousing readaloud. Huliska-Beith’s acrylic and collage illustrations have the same rousing tone as the text: the neon palette is lively, and the riotously distorted figures keep things safely and entertainingly unreal. Whether the message will be lost or heard is something else again. Get ’em young and they may decide early just which side of the playground they want to be on. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2002, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2002, Scholastic, 32p, $15.95. Ages 5-8 yrs.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2002)
Mean Jean rules the schoolyard until a feisty, diminutive newcomer, Katie Sue, invites her to help break in a new jump rope, and the bully learns that being a tyrant is overrated. Though the rhyme is irregular, the language in this manic democracy lesson is lively ("she’d push ‘em and smoosh ‘em, / lollapaloosh ‘em"), and Huliska-Beith uses acrylics and collage to capture the power struggles from appropriately lofty perspectives. Category: Picture Books. 2002, Scholastic, 32pp, $15.95. Ages 4 to 9. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.

Virginia Gleaton (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 15, No. 1))
Mean Jean is the biggest bully on the school playground! All the children at school are afraid of her. A new student arrives and challenges Jean's position as "Queen of the Playground." Katie Sue and Mean Jean become fast friends. Everyone can now have fun without being afraid of the bully. Fiction. Grades 2-5. 2002, Scholastic, Unpaged, $15.95. Ages 7 to 11.