A cheery tale that highlights the importance of friendship, confidence, and working together.
Learning how to do your best can be complicated—and fun!
Sam, bespectacled and earnest, loves all of the celebrations—Pajama Day, Silly Hat Day, Super Sports-Fan Day, Space Travel Day—his class observes at school. But even though his teacher points out that it’s not a competition, it always seems to Sam that someone else’s outfit or offering is better than his. Schoenbrun’s appealing, cartoonlike illustrations feature a multiracial group of students enjoying school while Vernick’s straightforward text delivers the story clearly with gentle humor. When Take Your Octopus to School Day rolls around and it’s time for Sam to unveil his pet octopus, Thurgood, in his tank, he waits for oohs and aahs from his fellow students—and is shocked to find that his tank appears empty! Where could Thurgood be? Is there anyone in class who can help? Perhaps there is someone else who knows something about undersea creatures as well? There is: a boy named Caleb who has a pet squid, as it happens. This quirky tale of pet ownership focuses on social-emotional skills such as resilience, healthy competition, and cooperation while remaining light and entertaining and introducing the concept of camouflage as well (Thurgood is hiding in there somewhere!). Clearly, there will have to be a Camouflage Day next. But how will they see who the winner is? Sam presents white and Caleb black.
A cheery tale that highlights the importance of friendship, confidence, and working together. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-55710-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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