Kids may learn to laugh at themselves a little—and accept themselves, too.
Cowabunga! A bull can’t control the waterworks.
Milton’s life is great. He loves the pasture where he lives, and he enjoys an endless supply of ice cream. But Milton cries nonstop, earning himself the nickname Moo Hoo. He cries when he’s sad and when he’s happy. He cries when he’s nervous, when he’s frustrated, and when his favorite music swells to emotional heights. Milton cries when he’s embarrassed, and then when that happens, he cries even more. Eventually, he decides to toughen up and become a bully. That doesn’t work: His new persona makes him sad, which causes more waterworks. His next strategy? Deplete his tears. He watches happy movies, listens to sad songs, and admires moving sights until all his tears are gone. Or are they? An encounter with a sympathetic, similarly overemotional sheep, nicknamed Waa Waa, turns Milton’s life around. They share sob stories, bawl together, and forge a bond. Milton realizes that all he needed was a pal who likes him for who he is. This thin, somewhat silly story is intended to reassure readers that it’s OK to be exactly who they are. It’s a touch idealistic, though many emotional youngsters will likely feel buoyed. The amusing, lively illustrations were created with pencil, crayon, acrylic, and digital coloring.
Kids may learn to laugh at themselves a little—and accept themselves, too. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781338888881
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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