An uncertain mashup of astronomical information and relationship therapy.
Breaking up, surveying the options, and making up, solar system–style.
Moon and Earth quarrel. So Moon, clad in sports socks and sneakers, stalks off on her extra-long legs to start fresh and meet someone new. Orbiting Venus is fun at first, but the toxic clouds are off-putting. Mercury is too fast to stop for her, and the Sun soon burns her, so she reverses course. Mars looks perfect—until Moon, disillusioned, discovers that Mars has two orbiting satellites already and declines to get involved (“This situation seems complicated”). Upon learning that Jupiter already has a bevy of moons, she decides she doesn’t want to be “anybody’s number ninety-six.” A night of partying with Saturn leaves Moon exhausted. Uranus is too smelly, Neptune is desolate and cold, and is Pluto even a planet anymore? Suddenly Moon longs for Earth. The pastel art is exuberant and decorative; on every page, black space is filled with colorful confetti and tiny improbable spaceships, and planets have stubby appendages and odd alien life-forms. Though the solar system facts are sound, much of the humor, with its references to dating woes, won’t strike a chord with children, who may even emerge with some bleak takeaways about romance. The titular pair apparently reunite only because Moon can’t find anyone better, and they never address the reasons for their fight or promise to do better.
An uncertain mashup of astronomical information and relationship therapy. (more information on the solar system) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781797228266
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.
Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.
There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781400247417
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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