A solid addition to the early-reader shelf.
Mo, Jenna, and Dov will be a team in a relay race after school, so they practice passing their baton to one another after lunch, Mo pocketing his jelly doughnut to eat later. They use Jenna’s straw for the baton, and try as he might, Mo cannot maintain his grip on it. Later on, Mo finds the straw a distraction while in class. After school the track meet commences, and Mo stands close enough to the long jump that his friend Fran crashes into him, smashing the doughnut in his pocket. Mo happily eats the messy sweet treat, and then it’s time for the relay race, which Mo is anchoring. Their opponents drop the baton just as Jenna hands it to Mo, and thanks to the jelly all over his hand, he holds on all the way to the finish line! In Ricks’ friendly illustrations, Mo and Jenna both have brown skin and Afro-textured hair while Dov and Fran present White; their classmates are diverse. This fourth series entry is, like its predecessors, a great book to help emerging readers use context clues to infer words’ meanings. It will also help readers recognize the beginning, middle, and ending sounds of words—during class, the children practice AT words such as CAT and MAT, not to mention BATon. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-12-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
A solid addition to the early-reader shelf. (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984836-82-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
Amusing but a little off tempo.
It’s important to hit all the right notes.
A tan-skinned musical composer with puffy black hair is busy at work on his next musical masterpiece when Half Note, a music symbol denoting two beats, feels unappreciated. Half Note is jealous of the more commonly used Quarter Note (one beat) and Eighth Note. Although the other musical symbols attempt to calm and comfort Half Note, she decides to run away. The next day, Composer needs Half Note and panics when he realizes that she’s gone. The other notes and musical symbols try to find her, but it’s only when they try to play her favorite song, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” without her—with terrible results—that she comes running back. The story’s humor—which is largely based on “dad joke” puns—is completely dependent on readers’ musical knowledge. The artwork, a mix of acrylic and colored pencil, attempts to add some allegrezza to the piece, and while it’s not unsuccessful, it’s facing an uphill battle. Music teachers and musically minded caregivers may find some value in this story, but it will likely be too specialized for general readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Amusing but a little off tempo. (glossary) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-64567-631-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
It’s a slam dunk
Lucy discovers that the way to learn to play basketball is with friends on a neighborhood court.
Lucy loves playing in the park, and one day she and her friends join their friend Ava and her cousin in their new favorite sport: basketball. Pro player Jermaine, aka “Coach J,” teaches all the basics—footwork, quick passes, dribbling, and a variety of shots. But he also encourages the players to keep trying when they miss, stresses the value of teamwork, and focuses on fun as they learn and later play a practice game. At the end of the workout, Coach J invites the young players to watch him and his team play. Written in loose rhyming couplets, the text has many near rhymes and inconsistent meter. While the storyline is predictable, the book is a good introduction to basketball terms, and young basketball players and fans will appreciate reading about themselves. Vivid silhouetted figures against a white background portray male and female players of several races; Lucy herself is white while Ava and Coach J are black. One young player competes from a wheelchair. A half page of backmatter explains the history of basketball, the NBA and its players, and wheelchair basketball, and one entry also explains the three-on-three basketball that the children play. The book publishes in a simultaneous French edition translated by Rachel Martinez.
It’s a slam dunk . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1697-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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