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BILLIE AND BEAN IN THE CITY

Name: BILLIE AND BEAN IN THE CITY
Author: Julia Hansson
ISBN: 9781459834446

From the Billie and Bean series , Vol. 2

by Julia Hansson ; illustrated by Julia Hansson ; translated by B.J. Woodstein ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2023

A simple yet wonderfully satisfying escapade.

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A girl and her dog go on an afternoon adventure.

Billie, a sturdy, brown-skinned child, and her rotund dog, Bean, set out for a stroll around the block while Mom is off doing laundry. Billie’s been out with Bean before—with Mom watching from the window. On her own now, Billie takes in the sights and sounds. As Bean scarfs up a bit of ice cream on the sidewalk, a kindly mother asks Billie her dog’s name. When Bean leads the pair into a small park to poo (“Billie has a bag”), they dance among the flowers and trees. But when they leave, the street looks unfamiliar. An aerial view of the city, a sea gull flying by, shows a brightly colored collection of tidy buildings. It’s complicated but not entirely scary, but Billie is in tears. Bean sets off with her in tow—and suddenly there is the familiar street and blue doorway and even a banana peel from an earlier scene. The image of the pair back in the cozy apartment, napping, flat out on the floor, is sweet, as is the hug from Mom (who is brown-skinned) when she returns. Hansson has a gift for showing us the world as experienced from the perspective of a small child. Her crisp linework, gentle, bright palette, and matter-of-fact text, translated from Swedish, are delightful, portraying a little one’s first forays into independence, joys, fears, and all. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A simple yet wonderfully satisfying escapade. (Picture book. 2-6)

Pub Date: May 16, 2023

ISBN: 9781459834446

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Orca

Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
BILLIE AND BEAN IN THE MOUNTAINS
by Julia Hansson ; illustrated by Julia Hansson ; translated by B.J. Woodstein

- BOOK REVIEW
BILLIE AND BEAN AT THE BEACH
by Julia Hansson ; illustrated by Julia Hansson ; translated by B.J. Woodstein

- BOOK REVIEW
BILLIE AND BEAN IN THE MOUNTAINS
by Julia Hansson ; illustrated by Julia Hansson ; translated by B.J. Woodstein

- BOOK REVIEW
BILLIE AND BEAN AT THE BEACH
by Julia Hansson ; illustrated by Julia Hansson ; translated by B.J. Woodstein

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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)