A warm and tender tribute to the traditions that help us hold our loved ones close.
A child lovingly honors the memory of a late parent.
Each week, Papa and the young protagonist take a walk to a special spot where Mama, “the best fisherman around,” would catch “fish after fish.” Now that it’s just the two of them, they quietly immerse themselves in memories of Mama, breathing in the smell of the lake and listening to the “sound of the water slappin’ back and forth, back and forth.” They bait their hooks, each motion a tribute to Mama, and as they wait for fish, Papa repeats an oft-told story about how Mama once landed a huge fish. They return home with a bucket of fish, still looking, still listening, carrying sounds into sleep, where the protagonist dreams sweetly of Mama and the fish. Scenes of Papa, Mama, and the child depict a family filled with love—literally connected to one another through touch. In the present, as Papa and the child experience the world without Mama, her memory remains. The world is bathed in warm pink light, reminiscent of the jacket Mama wore, and the flowers, trees, and water have a comforting, otherworldly feel. The atmosphere seems to swirl and move, alive with her memory. Both heart-filling and heartbreaking, this book is a reminder that tradition and love keep memory alive. Mama is light-skinned and blond; Papa and the child are dark-haired and slightly darker in skin tone.
A warm and tender tribute to the traditions that help us hold our loved ones close. (Picture book. 4-8.)Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781542039857
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale.
Actor, social media star, and entrepreneur Brown pens a joyful paean to positive thinking in her children’s debut.
Brown-skinned Tab rides a strawberry-themed bike, accompanied by a curly-haired black dog, Grady. Tab’s dazzling smile and wide eyes signal the upbeat theme echoed in the text, celebrating the sun’s warmth, which “fills everyone up with joy.” But Tab’s mood shifts, as it’s a “cloudy and gray” June day. Alert readers will spot the dog’s smiling countenance and note glimpses of sunny yellow butterflies and flowers. Mama’s reassurance that there’s “always a chance” for sunshine also underscores the optimism. Tab and Grady bike through suburban streets “to find the sun.” Along the way, the two stop to assist a neighbor building a birdhouse, loft a kite for friends Frankie and Fonte, and lend a hand to others, all while still having fun. Mama steers Tab toward an eventual understanding of the real source of joy: Though the sun didn’t appear, “I brightened everyone’s day!” The illustrations subtly underscore the message of this radiant story as touches of gold lighten the palette, which ends with sunny brilliance. Most characters read Black, though Tab’s community includes people who vary in skin tone, body type, and ability.
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780063342262
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
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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