In my opinion this great children's book. First, I liked that the illustrations in the book were very different. Instead of having drawings there were actual pictures of Russ and his activities that he did that day. For example, there is an actual picture of Russ and his mom eating breakfast in the morning before school. Second, I liked that the plot led to a conflict that Russ and his friend had to find a solution to. On their way to school Russ and his friend find $5 on the ground and decide to keep it. But when lunch time comes around they see a girl crying about how she lost $5 for lunch. They have to make a decision of whether or not to buy ice cream for themselves or to give the girl the $5, not knowing if it is hers or not. They end up giving the money to her and feel good about what they did. The book pushes readers to think about tough issues like whats right and whats wrong. Russ and his friend knew it would be wrong not to give the girl the money, so I think this helps other readers to see the joy you can get from doing something good. The big idea from this story is that helping others out may not always benefit you, but the feeling of helping someone is rewarding enough. Russ also has down syndrome, and I think that this book helps other children to see that even though he has a disability he is just like everyone else. ( )

Russ was having a good day until he realize that the five dollar bill he found belong to one of his classmates

Russ and the Almost Perfect Day by Janet Elizabeth Rickert is a day in the life of Russ Rickert, a young boy with Down Syndrome. The story takes you through Russ's day at school and the events surrounding his day. Each page is adorned with photographs of Russ with his classmates and teacher. Russ is part of a mainstream class and fits in very well with the other students. The story lets you in on how Russ feels and what he is thinking as he seems to be having the best luck on this particular day. He even finds a five dollar bill on his way to school. Russ finds out later that the money actually belongs to his classmate and makes the right decision to return it. This is a wonderful stuory with a setting that all grade school children can relate to. It is most importantly a reminder that while Russ my be mentally disabled, he is just like any other child. ( )

Russ, a student with Down Syndrome, finds a five dollar bill and he realizes that his perfect day was not so perfect because the money belonged to one of his classmates.

Russ is having a great day. On his way to school, he finds a five dollar bill. He decides that he will use it to buy ice cream at lunch. But just before he can buy the ice cream, he notices a girl crying about having lost her lunch money on the way to school. Realizing that the money was probably hers, he puts the ice cream down and hands the money to her. The girl thanks him and Russ has an even better day, knowing that he has helped someone.

Russ has down syndrome, but no mention of this is made in the story. We only realize it because of the full page photographs that center around the real-life Russ, the author’s child. The text books and speech/thought bubbles are not integrated well into the photographs and there is a minor spelling mistake, but otherwise the book does a nice job of integrating a character with down syndrome into a story about a relateable (if overly didactic) occurrence. ( )