There are many better books out there that combine the alphabet with inspiration.
This alphabet book is designed to inspire by example, pairing fictional children with historical figures in 26 aspirational scenarios.
One child fills a recycling bin alongside Jane Goodall. Another dances with Misty Copeland. A third seems to be doing a bit of birding with Confucius. Across the 26 letters, a hodgepodge of do-gooders (and just some plain doers) leads a multiracial group of children through various activities that sometimes lightly touch on the lives and actions of the famous companions. An inspirational phrase accompanies each letter. The stylized art renders many of the real-world figures unrecognizable, but the endpapers provide a list (in order of appearance) along with each subject’s dates and a brief summary of their life and work. The illustrations on the alphabet pages lack any identification outside of a few clues—Rosa Parks stands in front of a bus; Walt Disney doodles a copyright-free mouse—but many are vague (what do Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama have to do with flowers?). Caregivers should prepare to flip back and forth often with curious learners, and supplemental research may be needed to explain why and how the characters relate to one another. Ultimately the book feels like a corporate-designed version of a bright, colorful, and empowering thing.
There are many better books out there that combine the alphabet with inspiration. (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-952239-27-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bushel & Peck Books
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school...
The familiar theme of the challenges facing a new kid in town is given an original treatment by photographer Border in this book of photos of three-dimensional objects in a simple modeled landscape.
Peanut Butter is represented by a slice of white bread spread with the popular condiment. The other characters in the story—a hamburger with a pair of hot dogs in tow, a bowl of alphabet soup, a meatball jumping a rope of spaghetti, a carton of French fries and a pink cupcake—are represented by skillfully crafted models of these foods, anthropomorphized using simple wire construction. Rejected by each character in turn in his search for playmates, Peanut Butter discovers in the end that Jelly is his true match (not Cupcake, as the title suggests), perhaps because she is the only one who looks like him, being a slice of white bread spread with jelly. The friendly foods end up happily playing soccer together. Some parents may have trouble with the unabashedly happy depiction of carbs and American junk food (no carrots or celery sticks in this landscape), and others may find themselves troubled by the implication that friendship across difference is impossible.
Still, preschoolers will likely savor this mouthwatering treatment of a subject that looms large in many early school experiences. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16773-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
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