School is over for the day, and energetic Norwegian preschooler Gracie thinks she and Grandma are going home, but—surprise! They are going swimming instead. The ingenuous third-person narration charts the adventure, Gracie’s ebullience occasionally veering toward impatience or truculence but always calmly countered by Grandma’s savvy. The everyday elements of a trip to the pool—the changing room, retrieving forgotten equipment, the pre-swim shower and post-swim sauna (this is Norway, after all) and the swim itself are enlivened by Gracie’s imaginative play and Grandma’s easygoing way with her granddaughter. The broadly cartoonish images nicely capture Gracie’s liveliness; she’s depicted as a toothily-grinning, ponytailed tot whose face transforms with anxiety or desire to a larger-than-life version of herself—and just as quickly morphs back as her mood changes. The broad black lines against white background are judiciously colored to reinforce this effect. This import is the second in a series of four. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9790347-4-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: MacKenzie Smiles
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2008
Lola’s daddy takes her to the library every Saturday, where she finds “excellent books,” and every night her mommy or daddy reads them to her. The next day Lola acts out the story. On Sunday she’s a fairy princess; on Monday she takes her toy animals “on fantastic trips to places like Paris”; on Wednesday she’s a tiger, etc. Each new book and day provides Lola with a variety of tales to play out, with the last one—which is about a wild monster—posing the question, “What will Lola be tomorrow?” The final page shows her in a wolf suit just like Max’s. The library books, the pretending and the incorporation of the days of the week work together as a simple and pleasing premise. Beardshaw’s acrylic illustrations depict the multicultural kids and Lola’s black family with childlike charm, while the title will have librarians, parents and booksellers smiling. Alert: The book will be an invitation for lap kids to follow Lola’s lead—not such a bad thing. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58089-258-2
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2010
A brother and sister participate in their Tae Kwon Do class in a most welcome addition to the Step into Reading series. This level-one title sports predominantly one-syllable, short vowel words in two-to-four-word sentences. Spirited images and mainly well-chosen action words in rhyme will hook little boys: “We count. We yell. We all kick well.” But the multicultural, coed students portrayed here, and the apparent accuracy of belt colors and class content, widen the applications. Bonita’s illustrations depict cheerful, cartoonish kids with shiny button noses, impossibly pudgy feet and thighs like enrobed sausages, but the sparring, jabbing and block-busting yield a sure hit. Parents, teachers and librarians desperate for first-level, child-appealing readers will cheer out loud—and quite possibly execute a few joyous spinning kicks of their own—as they snap this one up. (Easy reader. 3-5)
Pub Date: April 25, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83448-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2006
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
