An enlightening, child-friendly exploration of what it really means to say “I’m sorry.”
A bad mood prompts a lesson on proper apologies.
Hannah is a charming child…most of the time. On the eve of Yom Kippur, she starts the day by being mean to her brother and making a mess in her already cluttered room. When her mother objects, Hannah offers an insincere “Sorry!” After Hannah accidentally breaks her mother’s favorite Rosh Hashana decoration, her mother decides to teach her what a true apology entails. Her mother writes the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on several pieces of paper and places them on the floor. Jumping on the number 1, Hannah learns to first admit she did something wrong. As Hannah jumps onto the number 2, her mother tells her the next step is feeling remorse. And number 3 is promising to do one’s best in the future. Hannah progresses through the apology, learning how to make amends, and everything culminates with loving hugs all around. Colorful, bold drawings made up of geometric shapes depict a tan-skinned Jewish family; human characters have oversized round heads, while the family dog has a triangular-shaped face. The book ends with a brief note on Yom Kippur, and though this is a good story to share in anticipation of the Jewish Day of Atonement, it’s also a sound year-round message for any child figuring out how to contend with negative emotions. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An enlightening, child-friendly exploration of what it really means to say “I’m sorry.” (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728460277
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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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