Righty & Lefty

by Rachel Vail, Matthew Cordell (Illustrator)

A charming and funny picture book about the value of irreplaceable friendships.

Righty and Lefty, an adorable pair of feet, can't seem to agree on anything. Righty wakes up early, while Lefty likes to sleep in; Righty dreams of wearing fancy footwear, but Lefty swears by galoshes. This is the tale of two feet who, despite walking different walks, learn in the end how to get along without tripping over the most important thing of each other. A great story about the value of friendship and compromise, Righty and Lefty is sure to remind us all that opposites attract.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Friendship

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Birth
I was born on July 25, 1966, in NEW YORK CITY, and grew up in New Rochelle, NY, with my mother, my father, and my younger brother Jon. (And down the street from my future husband, though of course I didn't know that until much later.)

Interests
Some details, I do know-I was very into reading and theater, so I read every book I could get my hands on (especially realistic fiction, either contemporary or historical) and took acting workshops and auditioned for every play in school, camp, or the community. I played Peter Pan, Miss Hannigan in Annie, Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and lots of extremely memorable chorus parts-for instance, I was "girl number two" in Fiddler on the Roof-the one who said "We heard about your sister, Chava". I didn't care -I just wanted to be on stage. Waiting backstage before curtain call, after giving my all in a performance, was the best feeling I knew. In seventh grade I started taking magic lessons, and by eighth grade I was making all my own spending money by performing at kids' birthday parties as a clown named Tallulah. I liked the freedom of wearing all that grease-paint-I could be as wacky and un-cool as I wanted. I tried dance but felt so clumsy. I faked a sprained ankle to get out of the recital. I took voice lessons which made me a little light-headed (and I was afraid of the voice teacher's growling, drooling Doberman) and both saxophone and piano, neither of which I ever practiced. I did well in school but started a lot of my work at the last minute, in a crazy mad dash, so that it was never late but there were usually careless errors or areas I had to fudge. I had this idea that to work hard at something was sort of a negative, an admission that I didn't have natural talent. If I wasn't going to be Mozart and have the music (or dance, or math, or social studies term paper, or whatever) channeled through me from God, then I was just embarrassing myself by all that workmanlike effort. I didn't get over that idea until after college, by the way.

Career Ambitions
I never really planned to be a writer. I planned to be a financial wizard after learning about option-spreading at age 10, then a poet after discovering Shakespeare at 11. After overhearing "the real power is held by the lobbyists" on a class trip to Albany, I planned to become a lobbyist. Secretly, of course I always imagined myself as an actress, but that didn't seem hard or important enough, and also I worried I wasn't naturally gifted enough.

Parents
My parents were always great. I liked to make them proud, and they trusted me and supported my efforts and interests, which was sometimes weirdly tough. There was so little for me to rebel against.

As a Kid
When people ask me what I was as a kid, I always feel like my answer is at best incomplete.What are you like, as a kid? I'm still trying to figure out what I'm like as an adult.

Socially
Well, things went in waves. Sometimes I felt very "in", very aware of and tied in to the whole scene, excited by who liked whom, all the gossip, some of it less than kind. Other times I felt so alone-like there was nobody like me, nobody who liked me, nobody to talk to. And much of the time it was somewhere in between. A best friend when I was lucky, and a few people in each crowd I liked and who liked me. I resisted being classified as a brain or a jock or alternative or popular-too limiting. I would have to shut down too many parts of myself to be just one type.

Adolescence
I went through a very intense stage in middle school (Junior High). I worried about being too ordinary. I also worried about being too weird. I also worried about changing states of matter, my inability to be morally certain, ignorance (my own and world-wide), and making a fool of myself.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/rachel...

Reviews

[Isabel Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows the daily life of two feet: Righty and Lefty. They like to do different things, because even though they are part of the same person, they are not the same feet. Sometimes, Righty’s actions get Lefty into trouble and vice versa. Despite their differences, Righty and Lefty come to realize that they would not do well alone. They realize that they work best when they work as a team, and instead of pushing each other away they learn how to live together in peace. I would love to use this book in a Storytime one day. At its most basic level, it could teach children the difference between their left foot and their right foot. It would also teach children a lesson in getting along and working together as a team in order to be strong. There are lots of fun activities I could use along with the book to make it more interactive.

[Triston Dutschke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story teaches students about their left and right. The story is about a right foot and left foot learning to cooperate. Even though they have different opinions, they can't allow themselves to trip over each-other. The book not only teaches students directions but also cooperation.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about two feet who are complete opposites, literally. They both have their unique styles and characteristics but they must learn how to get along despite their inherent differences.

[Brystal Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story that teaches kids about left and right, loved the illustrations!

[Madison Dick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun story about right and left, and could be used to help students tell the difference.

[Jadyn Palosaari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very cute and great for younger kids because the little boy has their same way of thinking. Little kids would love this as a read aloud as well because it's funny for feet to talk and have personalities. This can a great wat to introduces personification. Genre: Humor Year: 2007

[Arsenio Richardson]

This is another book that I thought did a good job with the size and shape. The book jacket uses really big vivid pictures. Just from the title alone a reader can already know what he or she is going to be reading. That is important because people often want to know what and who they are reading about before they even selected their reading. The colors used give off a home -like feeling. The media the author chooses to use was pencil and watercolors. That is essential because lots of kids can relate to watercolors and pencils. It would make them feel better about reading a book they could understand

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this for my nephew because my son picked it for him. My son has never seen this book before, so it must have been the cover that attracted him. The story is actually pretty cute. Nothing spectacular, but it had a bit of humor, and it is a reasonably unique idea. Since it's a gift for my nephew, my kids haven't read it, so I have no idea how a child might feel about this book. I won't bother purchasing it for my kids, but it would be worth taking out of the library.

[Andrew Schoenfelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Righty and Lefty is a very neat book whose main characters are a pair of feet. The art was perfectly matched for the story. The illustrations were cartoon looking which are always enjoyable for children. They also went along with a small part of text, one to two sentences at the max, and there was a picture describing the text in detail. Also, the illustrations were very bright and fun to observe. A good amount of the

[Elizabeth S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very nice pictures, and a funny story. But I was hoping for something that would help me teach my daughter "left" and "right." And sometimes Righty is on the left page and Lefty is on the right page, so the book isn't useful as a fun teaching story. Overall, the story, the mixing of right and left, and the jokes were more sophisticated than a preschooler (at least my preschooler) is ready for. So good enough, but not great.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is a very interesting idea. The first page is a bit confusing because the author introduces righty and lefty (the feet), but they are crisscrossed and then my son was confused which side was right and left. The picture doesn't show the crisscross high enough up on the legs to be clear enough for the kids.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't wait to read this again when Jordan is a bit older and can catch a bit more of the very clever humor. She was very confused as to how these feet could say things to each other or do other face-type things ("Mommy, how are they talking? They don't have a mouth!", "Why does he have sunglasses? You only put those on your EYES."), but she really enjoyed their friendship.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I THOUGHT this was a book about distinguishing the right foot from the left foot, and about putting the right shoe on the right foot, and the left shoe on the left foot -- this is still a problem in our house. Instead, it was more of a story about twins.

This illustrations were very cute, though.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a silly book about two feet - their likes, dislikes, and how they can be so different, yet still feel incomplete without one another. It seems to be an allegory for twins, but in any case, it's a fun story to read aloud.

[Linda Costello · Rating 5 out of 5]

They cleverly put a band-aide on one foot to help tell the difference. I think this is a great book for right and left but you need to discuss perspective... my right, your right.. etc.. because if you were using it for a read aloud it might be confusing.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

my 4 yo daughter loves this book. Funny story about righty & lefty have to work together & get along, because they are stuck together, but one dreams of galoshes, while the other likes a variety of shoes.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

didn't like it when first read it but upon another review, cute story about being different told through two feet and how they enjoy different things.

[N · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is great conceptually but the jokes don't deliver. I like the idea of a relationship between two feet, it speaks of "Where is Thumbkin" ... but it just wasn't that funny.

[Tina B · Rating 4 out of 5]

"feet, shoes, left & right, each foot has an opposite personality but they're always a pair"

[Cassie Taylor]

Clever & fun! Not good for teaching about rights & lefts, but great watercolor illustrations.

[The Book Maven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this a book about feet or simply a metaphor for the two-party political system of the United States? I can honestly say I'm not sure.

[Angie Quantrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with two feet (on the same person) as main characters? Yes! And it works.

[Rajkumar Krishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

good one