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SEA MONSTER'S FIRST DAY

Presents kids with some great advice and solid solutions to the most common first-day what-ifs.

Ernest discovers that making friends is sometimes the hardest part of starting school, but that with a little perseverance and imagination, things can turn around.

Ernest the sea monster starts his school day with a positive attitude, setting out to make some new friends. But somehow, something always goes awry. Ernest’s large size has a lot to do with it, and it isn’t long before the other fish in the lake are making fun and shunning him. But the sea monster doesn’t let that get him down—there’s plenty to do at school. He reads, sings, takes a field trip, tastes some new plants and plays tug-of-war. After lunch, he tries again, this time introducing himself to some sturgeon, who immediately befriend him. And by following his mother’s advice, his imagination allows him to use his large size to his advantage and make even more new friends. Without becoming preachy, Messner offers lots of great messages for children. While Rash’s gouache-and-ink illustrations don’t downplay Ernest’s sad feelings, they also don’t dwell on them. The cartoon sea monster exudes positivity, and the other species of fish have personalities all their own.

Presents kids with some great advice and solid solutions to the most common first-day what-ifs. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: July 6, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-8118-7564-6

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011

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DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE SLEIGH!

A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.

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Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.

This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”

A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023

ISBN: 9781454952770

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Union Square Kids

Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

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

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