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WHAT BOYS DO

Name: WHAT BOYS DO
Author: Jon Lasser
ISBN: 978-1-4338-3679-4

by Jon Lasser ; illustrated by Robert Paul Jr. ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 9, 2021

Readers will be eager to see better stories inspired by this book.

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This picture book is not a good advertisement for boyhood.

There are almost no stereotypes here. The boys in this book aren’t dressed up as football players or soldiers or even pirates. The text is almost entirely words of encouragement, such as “There are many ways to be a boy, and so many more ways to be you!” Characters picture themselves as a dancer and—less radically—a vocalist or a race car driver. But when the book suggests things a boy might do for fun, the ideas are often a little generic: “Build rockets, pick flowers, create works of art.” It doesn’t help that Lasser has rhymed the suggestions with the words “open your heart.” The rhymes rarely scan. The most unfortunate couplet is: “Do you show your affection and how much you care? / Give big hugs with the strength of a bear?” Paul’s illustrations are based on the traditional geometry of cartoons, filled with heart-shaped faces and pear-shaped bodies, but they show a remarkable amount of variety. No two characters have quite the same skin tone and body type. Some readers will badly need the message of acceptance and diversity, and the two-page backmatter at the end of the book offers valuable advice about inclusion. But there are sources of information with fewer clichés and grating rhymes; Elise Gravel, for instance, has posted multiple cartoons on the subject for free on her website.

Readers will be eager to see better stories inspired by this book. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-4338-3679-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
GROW KIND
by Jon Lasser & Sage Foster-Lasser ; illustrated by Christopher Lyles

- BOOK REVIEW
GROW GRATEFUL
by Sage Foster-Lasser & Jon Lasser ; illustrated by Christopher Lyles

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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)