A comforting, accessible introduction to a not often discussed subject.
A woman and her young child try to make the best of things when they enter a homeless shelter.
The young narrator is understandably wary. Mama, attempting to allay her child’s anxiety and demonstrating a coping strategy, pretends it’s a royal abode. Inside, an administrator guides them to their bedroom; Mama offers up more playful scenarios to find fun amid new surroundings. Later, the two join other mothers and children of various ages and with different skin and hair colors in the communal dining room; one smiling girl wears the hijab and another, glasses. (The protagonist and Mama present white.) By shower time, the narrator feels acclimated enough to be the one to invite Mama to join an imaginative game, though this scene feels rushed. This gently told tale aims to reassure. It evokes a sense of immediacy, though the decision not to name the narrator may distance readers. There’s no explanation for why there are no adult men here, nor does anyone mention the absence of fathers. The flat, bright pencil-and-acrylic naïve-style illustrations succeed, with charming make-believe sequences and wide-eyed characters exuding hope. Except for a tearful woman shown on one page, readers could infer that residents feel welcomed and safe. Youngsters believing shelters are cheerless and impersonal may be comforted by the clean, colorful, and cozy facility. The backmatter offers lucid information about homelessness and shelters.
A comforting, accessible introduction to a not often discussed subject. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78285-824-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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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