An enjoyable, gently empowering friendship story.
It’s easier to feel brave with a friend.
In this sequel to Share Some Kindness (2020), a brown bear and a brown-skinned girl named Coco excitedly practice their dance moves for the talent show. They’re different in some ways, but as best pals they complement each other. Bear is big, while Coco is small; Bear is shy, while Coco is brave. Bear acknowledges he would never be bold enough to do the talent show solo, though Coco says he makes up the best dance moves. When dress rehearsal starts, Coco discovers she’s lost her brave and can’t continue. Some animal buddies suggest strategies that might work (meditation, practicing before a small audience, shouting at the fear to let it know who’s boss); these help somewhat, but they’re not enough to convince Coco to perform. The friends must inform Mama Deer that they’re dropping out of the show, but they’ll have to traverse a wobbly rope bridge first. They’re both afraid, but Coco patiently helps Bear get across, and the pair make a terrific discovery: Coco hasn’t lost her brave—it was just “hiding behind your fear,” as Bear puts it. Coco chooses “to let [her] brave be bigger than [her] fear” and performs with Bear in the talent show after all, because she’s now ready for anything. Though predictable, this tale is sweet, reassuring, and uplifting. Coco and Bear are a relatable, supportive duo. The lively illustrations, created with watercolor and digital ink, are very appealing. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An enjoyable, gently empowering friendship story. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5344-9911-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?
Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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