TODAY IS DIFFERENT

Name: TODAY IS DIFFERENT
Author: Doua Moua
ISBN: 978-1-72843-029-4

by Doua Moua ; illustrated by Kim Holt ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 5, 2022

An important story about how marginalized groups can work together for social justice, but some elements feel ill-conceived.

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When a Black man is “hurt” by police and Black Lives Matter protests are staged in her community, 7-year-old Hmong protagonist Mai knows that “today is different.”

Then Mai’s Black best friend, Kiara, misses school; the two girls usually do everything together…“but not today.” Seeking to understand more about race, Mai questions her teenage brother, Tou, and learns that “in the Hmong culture, there are Black Hmong, White Hmong, Green Hmong, Striped Hmong, and many more.” Although their parents want to shield them from the unfolding events—“It doesn’t have anything to do with you”—the siblings make a protest sign, and Mai uses colored pencils as an object lesson to show her parents that “if we all stand together, we will be unbreakable.” She and Tou run away to a Black Lives Matter rally to march in solidarity with Kiara’s family and are pleasantly surprised when Mom and Dad join them. The book focuses on racism against Black Americans, but Dad and Tou board up their house’s windows, a potentially confusing detail that the story glosses over. Though risking oversimplifying how children process racial trauma, Moua positively portrays a cross-cultural friendship and explores how racial violence impacts children. The backmatter explains the historical discrimination against Hmong people in many countries and emphasizes the importance of African American and Hmong communities uniting to fight injustice. Colorful but mediocre digital paint illustrations add little to the telling but realistically portray urban diversity.

An important story about how marginalized groups can work together for social justice, but some elements feel ill-conceived. (author’s note, pronunciation guide, glossary) (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: April 5, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-72843-029-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Carolrhoda

Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)