Decidedly delightful.
There are more important things in life than being perfect.
The Priggs are an impressive family. Father Prescott excels in the sciences, mother Penelope is a wordsmith extraordinaire, and son Percival seems to have inherited the best of both parents. The three earn high marks in everything they attempt, and each has a shelf packed with prizes. The family also has a pair of perfectly poofy poodles. But Percy finds it exhausting to be perfect, and he fears his parents won't love him if he's anything less. One weekend, Penelope puts the finishing touches on a luscious, multitiered cake, while Prescott carefully trims the hedge...to perfection. Percy is entered in so many contests—from chess to model making to history—that he invents a rocket to help him race through his prep. Unfortunately, it races out of control, knocking over the cake and tearing up the prize roses and sending the poodles flying. Incredibly, Percy's parents just laugh and then show him all of their failures, giving him valuable permission to pursue what he loves and fail along the way. Graham's digitally collaged illustrations are quirky and appealing, depicting the three Priggses with identical, enormous round glasses and post-catastrophe Percival with tufty, flyaway hair. The mayhem itself is solid slapstick, and the buildup is well-paced. Though familiar, the story’s message certainly bears repeating.
Decidedly delightful. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7624-5506-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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