The sky’s the limit for Bunting’s (Sing a Song of Piglets, p. 1218, etc.) assemblage of vivacious young ladies who imagine themselves in every profession under the sun. A simple alliterative listing of names and occupations is the basis of this affirming roll call. The exotic roster of appellations is a perfect match for the varied scope of vocations detailed; descriptions range from Gwen the gondolier, Quinn the harvest queen, Windermere the writer, to Ula the umpire. Bunting expands the horizon of employment opportunities for young girls, judiciously offering a blend of traditional and historically less-traditional female pursuits, firmly putting aside the notion of gender-specific employment. Librarians play alongside racecar drivers, a presidential candidate and a homemaker are equally touted, and a computer aficionado shares a spread with a ballerina. The gentle cadence of the rhyming text ties the verses together, unifying the seemingly disparate list of names and occupations. Bloom’s (Piggy Monday, 2001, etc.) exuberantly colored illustrations convey the enthusiasm of these youngsters as they test the waters of possibilities. Like the avocations selected by Bunting, Bloom offers readers a broad spectrum of role models, portraying girls in a range of ethnicities, shapes, and physical characteristics. The final verse succinctly summarizes Bunting’s empowering message: “Girls, / Be anything you want to be. / Do what you want to do. / Dream any dream you want to dream. / The world is here for you. ” A treasure that should be on every young girl’s bookshelf and maybe on a boy’s as well. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-56397-147-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
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
Haphazard but jolly enough for one outing; it probably won’t last for more.
A flurry of mail addressed to Duncan’s crayons ushers in the Christmas season in this novelty spinoff of the bestselling The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) and The Day the Crayons Came Home (2015).
Actual cards and letters are tucked into envelopelike pouches pasted to the pages; these are joined in some cases by other ephemera for a package that is likely to invite sudden, intense play followed by loss and/or damage that will render the book a disappointment to reread. That’s probably OK, as in contrast to the clever story that kicked this small series off, this outing has a hastily composed feel that lacks cohesion. The first letter is addressed to Peach from Mom and includes a paper doll of the “naked” (de-wrappered) crayon along with a selection of tabbed changes of clothing that includes a top hat and tails and a bikini top and bottom. Peach’s implied gender fluidity does not mitigate the unfortunate association of peach with skin color established in the first book. The sense of narrative improvisation is cemented with an early page turn that takes the crayons from outdoors snow play to “Feeling…suddenly very Christmas-y, the crayons headed inside.” Readers can unpack a box of punch-out decorations; a recipe for gluten-free Christmas cookies that begins “go to store and buy gluten-free cookies”; a punch-out dreidel (turns out Grey is Jewish); a board game (“six-sided die” not included); and a map of Esteban (aka Pea Green) and Neon Red’s travels with Santa.
Haphazard but jolly enough for one outing; it probably won’t last for more. (Novelty. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-51574-6
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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