LOLA KNOWS A LOT

Name: LOLA KNOWS A LOT
Author: Jenna McCarthy
ISBN: 978-0-06-225017-9

by Jenna McCarthy ; illustrated by Sara Palacios ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 7, 2016

By the end, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lola’s learned the most important thing of all: she’s “ready to learn all...

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A little girl starting school for the first time already knows a lot of things, but her big sister’s got her worried others will know more.

So little Lola lists out for readers some of the awesome things she can do. She can drive the car…from the back seat; teach her mom (yet again) how to work the remote control; and play the piano (only one song, but she’s great at it). Dad doesn’t always appreciate her setting him up to show off what she knows at his expense, and though Lola has a talent for driving her sister crazy, “I’m not saying you should try it. I’m just saying I happen to be especially good at it.” And readers should take her word for it that they shouldn’t cut their own hair. Among the tongue-in-cheek lessons Lola has learned are some gems about siblings, eating healthy, and life: “practicing isn’t as fun as doing. But I also know you can’t get good at anything without a lot of practice.” Palacios’ blonde, white, tutu-clad tot is wonderfully self-assured, self-confident, and exuberant, all of which come through in the digital illustrations, which are a mix of watercolor, colored pencil, and cut paper.

By the end, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lola’s learned the most important thing of all: she’s “ready to learn all the things I still don’t know.” (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 7, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-225017-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
LOLA'S RULES FOR FRIENDSHIP
by Jenna McCarthy ; illustrated by Sara Palacios

- BOOK REVIEW
POPPY LOUISE IS NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING
by Jenna McCarthy ; illustrated by Molly Idle

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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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CLAYMATES

by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017

The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...

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Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.

A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.

The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)