Love that is skin-deep.
A father tells his son about the tattoos that mark milestones in his life.
The entire text is composed of the dad’s monologue—“this one’s from my favorite book that my mom used to read to me. / Did she read it to me over and over and over? / She sure did”—but the son’s questions and obvious wonder are more than evident in his eyes and body language. A left-forearm tattoo is a reminder of his father’s wisdom: “Be Kind.” And one of some flowers, a Ferris wheel, and fireworks brings the dad back to the day he met a pretty girl with a wonderful smile. A tattoo on his side commemorates the longest trip he ever took. The turn of the page reveals him as a soldier. And a tiny little heart above his own? That’s just a heart inscribed with “somebody’s birthday,” and it happens to be both father’s and son’s favorite. As the father is telling these stories, the little family is tenderly getting the boy ready for bed. Wheeler’s fine-lined illustrations, done in India ink with dip pens and watercolors, recall picture books of the 1970s in both feel and color (though the father does the dishes while the mother writes in the next room; all three are white). The homey compositions make very plain the love that is behind each tattoo memory, the father following in his parents’ footsteps in being the kind of present and available parent they exemplified.
Love that is skin-deep. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4521-1937-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale.
Actor, social media star, and entrepreneur Brown pens a joyful paean to positive thinking in her children’s debut.
Brown-skinned Tab rides a strawberry-themed bike, accompanied by a curly-haired black dog, Grady. Tab’s dazzling smile and wide eyes signal the upbeat theme echoed in the text, celebrating the sun’s warmth, which “fills everyone up with joy.” But Tab’s mood shifts, as it’s a “cloudy and gray” June day. Alert readers will spot the dog’s smiling countenance and note glimpses of sunny yellow butterflies and flowers. Mama’s reassurance that there’s “always a chance” for sunshine also underscores the optimism. Tab and Grady bike through suburban streets “to find the sun.” Along the way, the two stop to assist a neighbor building a birdhouse, loft a kite for friends Frankie and Fonte, and lend a hand to others, all while still having fun. Mama steers Tab toward an eventual understanding of the real source of joy: Though the sun didn’t appear, “I brightened everyone’s day!” The illustrations subtly underscore the message of this radiant story as touches of gold lighten the palette, which ends with sunny brilliance. Most characters read Black, though Tab’s community includes people who vary in skin tone, body type, and ability.
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780063342262
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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
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