A love note to shy new kids.
A shy new student looking for a book finds some new friends instead.
Angel wants the bright orange book lying on top of the library shelves, but he’s too short to reach it. Summoning his courage, he asks taller classmate Oliver for help, and a note falls out of the book: “I hope your day is as bright and sweet as this shining sun.” Oliver immediately sees this as a mystery to solve and takes Angel around to his various friends at recess in an attempt to find the note’s author…and along the way introducing Angel. The handwriting looks like Rose’s, the picture of the sun like something Bea would draw, and the hearts over the I’s are Miles’ specialty. But none are the author. And then the wind steals the note away. Saddened by the end of the investigation, Angel thinks of something to do with his new friends that will also benefit other new kids like him: They craft a note of their own to place in a library book. Horne’s illustrations are charming, the children’s body language and facial expressions saying everything as new friendships form. Angel is light-skinned, Oliver is tan-skinned, and Bea and Miles are brown-skinned. While this method of welcoming children is slower to work than a buddy bench, it’s still a unique and doable idea. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A love note to shy new kids. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781605377322
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
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)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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