A pleasant story about books and reading to share with kids and bears.
Who doesn’t want to find the perfect book?
Book-loving Bear stands at the edge of the woods daily, listening to a blue-haired, tan-skinned girl named Ellen reading aloud beneath a tree. Before long, Bear emerges from his hiding place and sits beside her, entranced. Bear wants his own book—one that is the color of “ripe red raspberries” and is “delicious to read”—and asks Ellen where to get one. The places she names—her classroom, the library, the bookstore—don’t welcome bears. In order to choose his own book, Bear, accompanied by Ellen, visits each locale in disguise, dressing up as a superhero, a blueberry bush, and a coat-and-hat–wearing, umbrella-toting furry giant; unfortunately, all his efforts end in disappointment, with no book in paw. But never underestimate good old-fashioned ingenuity: Bear comes up with an ideal plan for acquiring a book, and together, he and Ellen find—no, make—the perfect book for Bear, a raspberry-red one that Ellen reads aloud, beginning with the words “Bear loved books.” This cute but obvious, slightly strained tale nevertheless conveys a terrific message about the love of books and the joy of reading. The warm bond between Bear and Ellen is sweetly appealing, as are the gentle humor and lively, colorful illustrations. Adults sharing the book should encourage children to write and illustrate and, if possible, read their own books. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pleasant story about books and reading to share with kids and bears. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 18, 2023
ISBN: 9780593527245
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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
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