An enjoyable revision of an endearing story.
A little girl gathers materials for make-believe soup in this updated picture-book reissue.
Sara and her family are spending a day at the beach. As Mommy and Daddy unpack and get baby Hallie settled, Sara announces it’s time to make her Famous Seaweed Soup. The story is a riff on "The Little Red Hen": “Sara asked, ‘Who will help me stir in the sand for my Famous Seaweed Soup?’ ‘Not I,’ replied Daddy. ‘I’m teaching Hallie how to swim.’ ‘Not I,’ replied Mommy. ‘I‘m reading my book.’ ” Sara collects seawater, two kinds of seaweed, sand, shells, feathers, and even snails (promising to return them). When the soup is completed, the fable’s moral is delightfully subverted—everyone who didn’t help must pretend to eat it. Weber’s full-color illustrations are new, but the text is mostly the same as the 1990s version (notably, the term “radio station” has been changed to playlist). Previously, Sara and her family all appeared White in the original illustrations; in this new version, Sara’s dad is White, her mom is Black with natural hair, and the kids have brown skin and brown curly hair. The images offer a nice update to the tale, beautifully rendered in a realistic watercolor style that perfectly captures a day at the beach in a story that’s as sweet as ever.
An enjoyable revision of an endearing story.Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9781955119399
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Purple Butterfly Press
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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