A pure ode to nature and sincere Black boy joy.
A Black father and son explore the seasons in a yearlong celebration of love of self, community, and creation.
The book, set in a small town adjacent to farmland and wild spaces, opens with spring. With playful mobility, Bayoc’s paintings depict the pair taking in their surroundings. Father and son gleefully tumble down a hill past a dogwood tree and through a flower patch while birds sing in the corner. Worried quails in a vivacious field of daffodils watch the father and son fly a kite under heavy drops of rain. Summer radiates warmth as horses kick up their hooves and cats side-eye the commotion. A thunderstorm with rain sheeting down isn’t enough to quell the joy in these two. In fall, the father rakes up the leaves while his son playfully jumps in the pile. Acorns drop as the son and his dad enjoy a healthy salad. Then winter covers the trees, mountaintops, and roofs with puffs of snow, and father and son build a snowman together. In all seasons, onlooking animals are painted with bright smiles that match the protagonists’. Moore’s brisk verse sets the pace. Stanza structure and rhyme scheme vary from season to season, but the peppy bounce never falters. Occasional moments when text and illustrations are a bit out of sync do not materially dull the fun. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pure ode to nature and sincere Black boy joy. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4788-7239-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
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
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads.
Emma deals with jitters before playing the guitar in the school talent show.
Pop musician Kevin Jonas and his wife, Danielle, put performance at the center of their picture-book debut. When Emma is intimidated by her very talented friends, the encouragement of her younger sister, Bella, and the support of her family help her to shine her own light. The story is straightforward and the moral familiar: Draw strength from your family and within to overcome your fears. Employing the performance-anxiety trope that’s been written many times over, the book plods along predictably—there’s nothing really new or surprising here. Dawson’s full-color digital illustrations center a White-presenting family along with Emma’s three friends of color: Jamila has tanned skin and wears a hijab; Wendy has dark brown skin and Afro puffs; and Luis has medium brown skin. Emma’s expressive eyes and face are the real draw of the artwork—from worry to embarrassment to joy, it’s clear what she’s feeling. A standout double-page spread depicts Emma’s talent show performance, with a rainbow swirl of music erupting from an amp and Emma rocking a glam outfit and electric guitar. Overall, the book reads pretty plainly, buoyed largely by the artwork. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nice enough but not worth repeat reads. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35207-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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