A comprehensive and successful child’s introduction to competitive sports.
The emotional and physical experiences of winning and losing can be difficult concepts for young readers.
Brochmann and Bowen’s rhyming, singsong stanzas first introduce the physical benefits of sports before moving to emotional aspects like empathy, sportsmanship, and losing with grace. Speaking directly to young athletes, the book gives strategies and tips on how to handle big feelings. “So don’t spoil the fun / by losing your head. / When you’re feeling frustrated / try this instead…”—“this” being taking a timeout and doing some deep breathing. Ng-Benitez’s illustrations introduce a diverse group of child athletes participating in a variety of indoor and outdoor sports and use bright colors and quick lines to convey movement. The illustrations effectively accompany the text, with gymnasts tumbling across one double-page spread explaining how muscles grow from running and jumping and young soccer players in teams observing post-game rituals to illustrate sportsmanship. Readers will see the wide range of emotions players go through when they compete—frustration, joy, anger, and sadness—and learn they are all part of the game. A concluding note for parents and caregivers shares the importance of addressing all the upsides and downsides of competition as they introduce their children to sports and the fact that “feelings and behaviors are not mutually exclusive. Showing grace and kindness…does not mean you are not a tough or competitive player.”
A comprehensive and successful child’s introduction to competitive sports. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4338-3694-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.”
The cover’s glowing golden stars are but a small hint of the parent-child love inside.
In this companion book to the creators’ I Love You, My Little Unicorn (2022), a world full of digitally created dinosaurs illustrated in eye-catching colors dominates the pages. From the start, it’s clear that dinosaur parents have the same hopes and dreams for their offspring that human parents do. Readers don’t have to be dinosaur fans to smile when the parent-and-child dinosaur pairs playfully interact and share loving glances. Take special note of the ankylosauruses, whose tails arc to form a heart beneath a sky filled with heart-shaped clouds. The text in verse shares words of unconditional parental love and support and wisdom (“please remember all these things / that I want you to know”), appropriate for humans and dinos alike. “Roar with all your might!” “Spread your wings and fly.” “Use your voice, and ask for help.” There’s even a caveat that some “days will be dark / and other shades of gray.” But “there’s always brightness up ahead.” While the loving sentiments in the storytelling are clear, words are sometimes inverted to make the rhyme work, and the verse doesn’t always follow a consistent meter, but prereading will let the story shine during quiet snuggle times.
Whether spoken by a dinosaur or a human, this parental message clearly radiates “I’ve loved you from the start.” (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781728268361
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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