A super blend of everyday courage, the inner lives of readers, and rising to the challenge of doing something difficult.
A comic-book hero and a real boy share an adventure.
In the opening pages, Robo-Kid successfully averts a disaster. Then the frames of a comic book give way to the surroundings of a young, light-skinned boy absorbed in the story as a voice calls, “Ready for your swimming lesson, Henry?” Henry slams the comic book closed and tucks it into his backpack, and Robo-Kid rubs their head. “I hate when they do that,” remarks Robo-Kid, a round-headed figure who appears to be made of interlocking blocks. As Henry approaches the community center, Robo-Kid complains to their robot family at the dinner table—“Why can’t I be a superhero in the real world?” The juxtaposition of the comic-book frames of Robo-Kid’s experiences with spreads depicting Henry’s is excellent, with deGroat’s crisp, engaging art rendering both characters’ worlds in clear lines and bright colors. Robo-Kid senses that they are needed—it’s evident from Henry’s worried face that he’s not entirely confident about swimming—and hops into Henry’s world. When Robo-Kid leaps into the pool, it’s Henry to the rescue. An image of a triumphant Henry holding his swimming certificate and the account Robo-Kid gives to the family about their adventure in the “real world” emphasize the heroics of both characters, each entitled to feel successful. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A super blend of everyday courage, the inner lives of readers, and rising to the challenge of doing something difficult. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 28, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4976-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
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
BOOK REVIEW
As insubstantial as hot air.
A diverse cast of children first makes a fleet of hot air balloons and then takes to the sky in them.
Lifestyle maven Gaines uses this activity as a platform to celebrate diversity in learning and working styles. Some people like to work together; others prefer a solo process. Some take pains to plan extensively; others know exactly what they want and jump right in. Some apply science; others demonstrate artistic prowess. But “see how beautiful it can be when / our differences share the same sky?” Double-page spreads leading up to this moment of liftoff are laid out such that rhyming abcb quatrains typically contain one or two opposing concepts: “Some of us are teachers / and share what we know. / But all of us are learners. / Together is how we grow!” In the accompanying illustration, a bespectacled, Asian-presenting child at a blackboard lectures the other children on “balloon safety.” Gaines’ text has the ring of sincerity, but the sentiment is hardly an original one, and her verse frequently sacrifices scansion for rhyme. Sometimes it abandons both: “We may not look / or work or think the same, / but we all have an / important part to play.” Swaney’s delicate, pastel-hued illustrations do little to expand on the text, but they are pretty. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.2-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 70.7% of actual size.)
As insubstantial as hot air. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1423-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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