A tale of ingenuity, youthful determination and marvelous math.
Why would anyone sell cold drinks on a blustery, winter day?
No one will be on the streets! Don’t you hear the wind? Two young entrepreneurs, Pauline and John-John, ignore the naysayers (their parents) and set up a lemonade stand smack dab on the snowy sidewalk. The lemonade, limeade—and lemon-limeade—are ready. But there are no customers to be seen. Pauline and John-John aren’t discouraged. Instead, they improvise by singing a catchy jingle, turning cartwheels to attract attention, decorating their stand and, finally, having a half-price sale. Nothing can dampen these two plucky kids’ spirits, and they do manage a few sales in the end. And the best thing about a lemonade stand, regardless of the weather? There is math slipped in! Under the guise of teaching her younger brother, Pauline teaches readers as well about counting quarters while shopping for supplies and figuring out profits. For visual learners, Karas includes helpful cues within the snowcapped scenes such as lined-up individual quarters under each purchase, plus a large sign at the end to break down each sale. Pauline and John-John don’t quite strike it rich, but their experience is priceless. Also included: Pauline’s secret ways to remember each coin.
A tale of ingenuity, youthful determination and marvelous math. (Math picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-85883-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
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)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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