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STARDUST

Name: STARDUST
Author: Jeanne Willis
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0265-6

by Jeanne Willis ; illustrated by Briony May Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 12, 2019

Warm and light.

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A little girl caught in her big sister’s shadow comes to see her inner light.

The text’s unnamed, first-person narrator struggles as the younger sibling to a talented elder sister, whom other family members refer to as a “star.” She wants to be a star, too, but she always seems to come up short. Her big sister wins a costume contest, finds her mother’s lost wedding ring, and knits a scarf without holes. Finally, her grandfather notices the protagonist’s dejection, and he helps her see herself as a star, too. This help arrives, in part, through a science lesson reaching back to the Big Bang that tells her how she, like all living things across time, is literally made of stardust. Illustrations in these scenes fantastically depict the girl accompanied by her grandfather in outer space, under the sea, and so on. This loving interaction allows her to adopt her inner stardust as metaphor for how special she is, a heartfelt connection that the protagonist accepts but that may underwhelm readers. The book’s end, however, reveals that the confidence this understanding inspires propels her to become an astronaut. Throughout, all main characters in the full-bleed illustrations appear white with pale skin, though background characters in a few scenes are depicted as multiracial and multiethnic.

Warm and light. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5362-0265-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Nosy Crow

Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT ARE LITTLE GIRLS MADE OF?
by Jeanne Willis ; illustrated by Isabelle Follath

- BOOK REVIEW
OLD MACDONALD HAD A PHONE
by Jeanne Willis ; illustrated by Tony Ross

- BOOK REVIEW
DON'T GO THERE!
by Jeanne Willis ; illustrated by Hrefna Bragadottir

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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)