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A STORY NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD BEFORE

Name: A STORY NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD BEFORE
Author: Avi Steinberg
ISBN: 9780374390945

by Avi Steinberg ; illustrated by Avi Steinberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 28, 2023

Kids will want to listen to this one again and again for creative inspiration.

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A sly, silly, metafictive storytelling how-to guide.

Steinberg playfully breaks the fourth wall to address a diverse cast of children depicted in digital cartoon art. The narrator explains that this is “a story no one has ever heard before” and adds, “I am not going to be the one to tell this story.” Gazing wide-eyed, the kids balk. “Wait, what?” “You’re not?’” two children ask in speech-balloon dialogue. “You are!” replies the narrator. Ensuing pages cleverly avoid having the children actually tell a story. Instead, the narrator offers guidance on what every tale needs: a character, conflict, a climax, and a resolution. Along the way, the narrator also suggests a few possible—and hilarious—scenarios. Maybe the protagonist could be a talking carrot who encounters a potato covered in literal eyes (a fun visual pun). Or a stressed extraterrestrial who journeys through space for some R&R. Or a compassionate knight (depicted with light skin) who’d rather lend a hand to an ogre in need than vanquish a dragon. A concluding spread presents a Mad Libs–style page held in the hands of several children. Readers will feel as though they share the children’s visual perspective and will be eager to engage with the narrative. Inspired and dynamic, this one will stir burgeoning writers to try their hand at storytelling.

Kids will want to listen to this one again and again for creative inspiration. (Picture book. 4-10)

Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023

ISBN: 9780374390945

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

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LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.

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How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!

John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 21, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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)