This rocks!
How do you become a rock star? It’s easier than you might think!
In this tongue-in-cheek tale, a raven-haired, olive-skinned child calmly offers suggestions from their own experience, such as using stuffed animals for backup vocals, and, when Mom won’t buy an electric guitar, riffing passionately on a broom. The suggestion that creates the most fodder for ironic text and sight gags is letting one’s little brother into the band. “Younger brothers are not ideal, but yours will have to do.” The child endures their brother’s toddler-babble, temper tantrums, and even a soiled diaper (slyly labeled “wardrobe malfunction”) while doggedly pursuing their dream. The text includes both simple statements by the protagonist and occasional speech balloons from olive-skinned Mom and light-skinned, red-bearded Dad. The art complements the lighthearted mood as the large-eyed, cartoonlike characters parade through the pages, sometimes rocking against stark white, sometimes shown against backgrounds with just enough detail to interest viewers without overwhelming them. There’s lots to laugh at: The narrator’s advice that aspiring rock stars start off by performing familiar songs is paired with an image of them crooning “The Wheels on the Bus”; Mom’s and Dad’s unwelcome suggestions for a band name are, respectively, “The Cuddle Monsters” and “The Not-So-Loud Band.” This one is well suited for a family read-aloud or for independent reading by good decoders. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This rocks! (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-984814-20-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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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