What compassion looks like—without a shadow of a doubt.
A shadowy revelation makes for a gentle story about friendship and understanding.
Little Cheetah’s shadow (fittingly named Little Shadow) has abandoned him. When Little Cheetah finally finds his companion, he learns that Little Shadow has felt neglected. Little Cheetah, his shadow says, is always in the lead and gets to choose where they go. Rather than respond defensively (“That doesn’t sound very nice at all,” he says instead), Little Cheetah quite literally lets his shadow take the lead (the laws of physics need not apply). Both get a sense of how it feels to walk in each other’s shoes, especially when Little Shadow inadvertently lets a door close on Little Cheetah’s tail, something about which Little Shadow had previously complained. The pair decides that walking side by side is best—until they reach a dark tunnel. Darkness erases the gray, transparent Little Shadow, so the solid, vividly orange Little Cheetah takes the lead, flashlight in hand. These empathetic characters make thoughtful efforts to gain perspective and understand each other in this earnest and sweet (but never cloying) story from the author of Otto and Pio (2019) and The Lion and the Bird (2014), two other tender tales of friendship. Dubuc’s colored pencil–and-watercolor illustrations on spacious, uncluttered spreads depict a tiny, intimate village of anthropomorphized creatures; Little Cheetah’s home is particularly cozy.
What compassion looks like—without a shadow of a doubt. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61689-840-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
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
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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