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BIG KIDS DON'T GET BUTTERFLIES

Name: BIG KIDS DON'T GET BUTTERFLIES
Author: Ceece Kelley
ISBN: 9781953859518

by Ceece Kelley ; illustrated by Sawyer Cloud ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023

Fairly unlikely to keep readers coming back for more.

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Graduating to the “big kid rides” is a memorable childhood milestone.

A brown-skinned youngster with a cascade of curls bounds out of bed. It’s time to go to the fair! The child is taller, stronger, and braver than last year. Forget all those rides that just go “ ’round and ’round.” “The big kid rides will take me up to the skies!” But first Mom decides the family needs to eat lunch. Then Dad wants everyone to play a game. And little sibling Sissy wants to go on the plane ride. Each time, the narrator responds with patience: “but next up—big kid rides!” The title and the drawn-out sense of suspense may lead readers to believe that our narrator will need to summon some courage when the big moment arrives, but a quick internal pep talk—“Hey! Big kids don’t get butterflies. Simmer down in there!”—is all that’s needed. The ride is ridden, and the narrator loves it—this is a straightforward story without much conflict. A slapdash lesson is tacked on to the end: Big kids can still do things they used to enjoy as well. Slightly stiff cartoon illustrations depicting striped awnings, classic rides, and cotton candy aplenty set the fairground scene. Dad is light-skinned with dark hair, Mom has brown skin with brown hair, and Sissy has lighter brown skin and brown hair in two puffballs. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Fairly unlikely to keep readers coming back for more. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: May 2, 2023

ISBN: 9781953859518

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Soaring Kite Books

Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
RAINBOW LETTERS
by Ceece Kelley ; illustrated by Marina Halak

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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)

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)