STUFF

Name: STUFF
Author: Margie Palatini
ISBN: 978-0-06-171921-9

by Margie Palatini & illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2011

Young Edward, a rabbit, has two good friends: Anthony, a beaver, and Marguerite, a cat. Then he has his stuff, his wonderful...

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An anti-consumerist cautionary tale just doesn't quite work.

Young Edward, a rabbit, has two good friends: Anthony, a beaver, and Marguerite, a cat. Then he has his stuff, his wonderful stuff. Anthony notes that Edward may have a little too much stuff. “How can anyone have too much STUFF?” is Edward’s retort. There comes a day when his stuff leaves no room for Anthony or Marguerite or, for that matter, time. He’s too busy to play because he’s “doing STUFF with my STUFF.” There comes another day when the whole mess collapses on him, and Anthony and Marguerite save his stuff-smothered butt. Palatini’s wordplay keeps this story of prioritizing values from drifting into timeworn homily, as when Edward is at first protected by his stuff when it crashes down: “ ‘I’m saved. Saved by my STUFF!’ How good was that?” Edward’s volte-face from stuff fan to stuff foe also rings true; all that stuff is about to suffocate him, metaphorically and literally. Jones’ illustrations—with their wobbly black linework and clear grasp of Edward’s mania—also strike a balance between reasonable fascination with cool stuff (a tuba, robots, cuckoo clocks) and serious junk (fish heads, smelly sneakers, broken crayons). Then the final page makes a painfully playful stab at comparing friendship to stuff, which not only doesn’t work as irony, but pulls the plug on the whole cautionary endeavor.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-06-171921-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
KITTY-CAM
by Margie Palatini illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

- BOOK REVIEW
SHARK-CAM
by Margie Palatini ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

- BOOK REVIEW
ISABELLA FOR REAL
by Margie Palatini ; illustrated by LeUyen Pham

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)