Appealing as both guidebook and story.
How to pick a pet.
“Hey there!” begins the friendly, omniscient narrator. “Are you looking for a pet?” The unnamed main character—a child with light tan skin, a black pageboy, and round, periwinkle glasses that match their large, periwinkle overalls—looks dizzied by the number of choices and squinches up their eyes in thought. The narrator then asks a number of open-ended questions, encouraging both protagonist and readers to think for themselves about what kind of pet best meets their needs: talkative or comforting, cuddly or only for observation, quotidian or uncommon. The questions are practical as well as emotional, meaning that this title would be as comfortable in a fiction section as nonfiction. The illustrations, acrylic on wood, are blocky and warm, and each animal is rendered as an affectionate approximation of itself. At one brief moment the text oversteps, assuring readers that if they have an animal companion, “You will not be lonely, and if you are scared, you will know that it’s okay because your pet will tell you.” It also skirts the hard but inevitable loss of a pet that children often need support dealing with. The end becomes more specific and less general, as the child decides that a turtle is “perfectly right for [them],” but on the whole many children will relate to this exploration. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Appealing as both guidebook and story. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-302599-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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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