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A GOOD TEAM

Name: A GOOD TEAM
Author: Heather Ayris Burnell
ISBN: 978-1-338-32905-6

From the Unicorn and Yeti series , Vol. 2

by Heather Ayris Burnell ; illustrated by Hazel Quintanilla ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2019

More sparkly, delightfully silly fun for Unicorn and Yeti fans.

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Pals Unicorn and Yeti return for a second, teamwork-filled adventure!

In the first of three short chapters, Yeti, who is good at kicking, invites Unicorn to play ball. As it turns out, Unicorn is not so good at kicking. Unicorn thinks they’re better at bouncing, but, sadly, the ball just gets stuck on their horn. When Yeti pulls the ball off the horn—POP!—the ball turns into a ring. The pair maintains their positivity by switching to a ring-toss game. In subsequent chapters, Unicorn and Yeti try a racing game (once they can agree on the method) and ice skating (once Unicorn figures out bipedal movement). Throughout, they stay on message: The best fun happens with strengths-based collaboration. Excluding a sentence that sets the scene and a short narrative action sequence, the majority of the story is told through dialogue. As with the first book, dialogue is color-coded (purple for Yeti; orange for Unicorn). The comic-book format mixes panel shapes and sizes, at most six per double-page spread. Repetitive dialogue helpfully recycles phrases and never exceeds three short sentences per speech bubble. Some words are bolded for emphasis. Yeti is identified with the masculine pronoun, but Unicorn is ungendered. Quintanilla’s colorful, expressive art and Burnell’s infectiously whimsical tone make their own good team. The final page includes instructions on how to draw Yeti and a short creative prompt.

More sparkly, delightfully silly fun for Unicorn and Yeti fans. (Graphic early reader. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 25, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-338-32905-6

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S DRAGONS & MYTHICAL CREATURES | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
SPARKLY NEW FRIENDS
by Heather Ayris Burnell ; illustrated by Hazel Quintanilla

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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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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)