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WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN A MONSTER SAYS BOO?

Name: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN A MONSTER SAYS BOO?
Author: Hope Vestergaard
ISBN: 0-525-47737-3

by Hope Vestergaard & illustrated by Maggie Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2006

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Older brothers stuck with a monster-like little sister have much to tolerate. In this parallel picture book, older brother keeps his cool with a variety of responses to a little sister’s outrageous behavior by turning his wishfully naughty responses into acceptable solutions. “What do you do when a monster pulls hair? / Show it your teeth and pretend that you’ll bite? / Forget all your manners and start a big fight? / No, no, NO! / The best thing to do when a monster pulls hair / is find its soft tummy and tickle it there.” Smith’s bright, cheerfully colored illustrations augment the rhyming text for each scenario presented, from stinky breath to a roaring tantrum. While most would just love to react negatively or be left alone, this brother demonstrates how to respond politely, calmly and even with care and love. A fun-loving read for both impatient and pesky siblings learning to live together. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-525-47737-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2006

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
DIGGER, DOZER, DUMPER
by Hope Vestergaard ; illustrated by David Slonim

- BOOK REVIEW
POTTY ANIMALS
by Hope Vestergaard and illustrated by Valeria Petrone

- BOOK REVIEW
I DON’T WANT TO CLEAN MY ROOM
by Hope Vestergaard & illustrated by Carol Koeller

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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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)