James Alexander’s nickname was Gimme-Jimmy because he was a greedy and selfish bully.  Imagine Jimmy’s concern when he discovered that every time he said the word “Gimme”, his hand grew larger.  Jimmy was happy to discover that when he was polite and said “Please” and “Thank you”, his hand began to shrink.  He started practicing his new “Polite Rule” and found out that it was much more fun to share.

Gimme-Jimmy had no friends, which was probably good since Jimmy wasn’t a good friend himself. His favorite word was gimme, as in Gimme my toys, and Gimme my books. Jimmy was also a bully... Jimmy did not care what anyone thought. He thought he was cool and that was enough for Jimmy. His father thought otherwise ... To Jimmy’s surprise, his hand grew with each utterance of that now awful word... After saying please and thank you, and generally being nice and polite, Jimmy’s hand reduced back to its normal size. He now had friends, he had fun, and no one ever called him Gimme Jimmy again...Ms. Cannon’s books are message books. They each help a child with a behavior... Gimme Jimmy takes on Jimmy the bully, but concentrates more on his selfishness, it’s-mine attitude, and his I-want-it-now greediness. Ms. Cannon writes in rhyme that is simple and easy to follow...There is humor to enjoy and the illustrations do a great job depicting the text. To add to the fun, Elisabeth from The Magic Word appears on a page, as do the covers for two of the author’s earlier books...  Kalpart once again illustrates for Ms. Cannon and is again fantastic...The illustrations are very expressive and colorful. Gimme Jimmy is a good story time book. It will be a good bedtime story also. There is humor, yet not enough to get a kid worked up beyond the point of sleep. This book is a keeper. –Kid-Lit /Reviews, Sue Morris