LIBRARY LILY

Name: LIBRARY LILY
Author: Gillian Shields
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5401-8

by Gillian Shields & illustrated by Francesca Chessa ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 8, 2011

“There were fat books, thin books, great enormous square books, old books, new books, and furry-touchy-feely books.” The...

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This gentle read presents a rosy-cheeked child, brand-new library card in hand, dazzled by the array of choices surrounding her on the shelves.

“There were fat books, thin books, great enormous square books, old books, new books, and furry-touchy-feely books.” The title’s large trim size invites the listener inside the venerable building too, as do the vivid colors and whimsically shaped and decorated volumes. The protagonist earns her moniker when people notice her total absorption in the literary life. Lily is never without a book, and her tastes run the gamut from “rare lesser Amazonian” snakes to ghost stories. Her mother finally prods her to play in the park, where she meets the tree-climbing Milly, who hates reading. As their friendship develops, they come to appreciate the thrill of discovery in each other's realms. The thick, layered brushwork of the backgrounds and characters contrasts with the bits of cut-paper collage and simple shapes outlined in pencil to present a visually stimulating world—inside and outside the books. While there are no surprises here (nor cell phones, nor iPads), and not enough action to entertain rambunctious listeners, Chessa’s depiction of the interplay between the stories on the pages and those enacted by the girls is both clever and heartwarming.

Pub Date: July 8, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-8028-5401-8

Page Count: 26

Publisher: Eerdmans

Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
WHEN THE WORLD IS FULL OF FRIENDS
by Gillian Shields ; illustrated by Anna Currey

- BOOK REVIEW
DESTINY
by Gillian Shields

- BOOK REVIEW
ETERNAL
by Gillian Shields

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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TINY T. REX AND THE IMPOSSIBLE HUG

by Jonathan Stutzman ; illustrated by Jay Fleck ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2019

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.

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With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?

Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)