A fun reminder to be open to friendship.
A girl throws a tea party and ends up with more guests than she expected.
New in town, Agnes sets out to make friends by inviting some girls from her class to a tea party. She stipulates on the invitation that everyone should bring a “plus one.” After Agnes accidentally drops one of the invitations on the ground at school, a kid named Dave picks it up. When no one except Dave shows up to her house, Agnes turns him away with the excuse that he didn’t bring a plus one; in reality, she doesn’t want “this strange kid” at her party. Undeterred, Dave gets creative and cheerfully knocks on the door multiple times with a lineup of different “plus ones,” including a goose, a snake, and even his own mother. Each time, Agnes rejects Dave and his guests for different reasons, but eventually she realizes that she’s alone at her own party. Agnes observes Dave having fun with his “unusual group of friends” outside and asks to join them. But then, Agnes’ guests show up. Will she ditch Dave? No! Agnes invites the entire group (including the goose) inside for tea. Hare’s vibrant illustrations complement this sweet and silly story that makes clear that sometimes we can find friends in unexpected places. His wide-eyed, expressive, cartoonish characters effectively convey a range of emotions—from frustration to excitement—with humor. Agnes is tan-skinned, Dave is light-skinned, and the (human) party guests are racially diverse.
A fun reminder to be open to friendship. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780823450435
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale.
Actor, social media star, and entrepreneur Brown pens a joyful paean to positive thinking in her children’s debut.
Brown-skinned Tab rides a strawberry-themed bike, accompanied by a curly-haired black dog, Grady. Tab’s dazzling smile and wide eyes signal the upbeat theme echoed in the text, celebrating the sun’s warmth, which “fills everyone up with joy.” But Tab’s mood shifts, as it’s a “cloudy and gray” June day. Alert readers will spot the dog’s smiling countenance and note glimpses of sunny yellow butterflies and flowers. Mama’s reassurance that there’s “always a chance” for sunshine also underscores the optimism. Tab and Grady bike through suburban streets “to find the sun.” Along the way, the two stop to assist a neighbor building a birdhouse, loft a kite for friends Frankie and Fonte, and lend a hand to others, all while still having fun. Mama steers Tab toward an eventual understanding of the real source of joy: Though the sun didn’t appear, “I brightened everyone’s day!” The illustrations subtly underscore the message of this radiant story as touches of gold lighten the palette, which ends with sunny brilliance. Most characters read Black, though Tab’s community includes people who vary in skin tone, body type, and ability.
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780063342262
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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