Overall, an elegant, ambitious effort.
Graphic art using bold shapes and colorful silhouettes makes an admirable attempt to illustrate a kiss and show the many places throughout the United States that kisses can come from and travel to in this ephemeral title.
Gibson’s prose dances along the pages, encouraging readers to imagine the smells, sounds, textures and trajectories of kisses: “At any given moment, someone, somewhere, is blowing a kiss. / And somewhere, someone is catching it.” Van Lieshout does her best to create spreads that provide a visual context for the rather abstract concepts introduced in the text. Although a blown kiss is invisible, readers see airborne dandelion fluff in various sizes and colors float across each page, zigzagging through New York City traffic or, oddly, swirling by two affectionate deer in a wintry scene. Only some children but most adults will recognize the landmarks portrayed, including Times Square, Washington, D.C., St. Louis and New Orleans. A map at the end of the book helpfully shows the cities featured. This title can be used as a springboard for discussion about visualizing things that are quite real but unseen. While younger readers may balk at thinking of a kiss as something that can be hidden in a pocket or tucked in a book, most can relate to kisses that “SMACK! like bubblegum” or “whisper like butterflies.”
Overall, an elegant, ambitious effort. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 31, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-312-37647-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.
Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.
There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781400247417
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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