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MAGGI AND MILO MAKE NEW FRIENDS

Name: MAGGI AND MILO MAKE NEW FRIENDS
Author: Juli Brenning
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3776-1

by Juli Brenning ; illustrated by Priscilla Burris ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2016

Perhaps next time Maggi and Milo will learn about the golden rule

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In their second outing, Maggi and her huge dog, Milo, visit a park where they make three new friends.

Maggi, a white girl with glasses and cowgirl boots, is taken to the park by her mother, who wants her daughter to make some friends other than her dog. The small park doesn’t allow dogs inside, so the mom sits outside on a bench next to Milo. Maggi meets a Latino boy named Antonio Carlos Enrique III (Ace for short), a redheaded white girl in a tutu named Sarah, and a black girl named Sydney, who (inexplicably) calls herself Amelia Earhart. They play together for a while and then decide to walk the dog. Maggi requests seven items (ranging from dandelions to sparkly rocks to acorns) to be collected from around the park as payment for dog-walking privileges. The children take turns walking Milo (outside the park gate), and the group then uses the collected natural items in further play, with two of the friends kindly teaching Maggi how to make something new. The morally questionable notion of charging newly acquired friends for the privilege of walking the dog is never addressed. While the plot is rather ho-hum, the story is told in an energetic, clever tone, and the digitally produced illustrations have a fluid appeal, with scratchy ink outlines and a loose, breezy style that lends immediacy to the overall effort. The cast of cute kids illustrated with large heads and skinny appendages is clearly positioned for more entries in the series.

Perhaps next time Maggi and Milo will learn about the golden rule . (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: July 12, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-8037-3776-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
MAGGI AND MILO
by Juli Brenning ; illustrated by Priscilla Burris

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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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)