An upbeat introduction to limb difference.
A boy with a ninja alter ego battles the first day of school.
Ten-year-old “ninja master” Nathaniel Brown has been rocking his green ninja suit all summer; accordingly, his friends dub him Ninja Nate. He deems his older brother, Charlie, his sensei, but the boss is Mama Mary, who nurtures her ninjas “between snack-time rumbles and play-time fumbles.” When he’s not performing feats of “play-jitsu” with his silver sword, battling butterflies and deflecting sprinkler sprays, Nate chills like any other kid. The night before the first day of school, Ninja Nate dreams of combating “a gazillion nefarious ninjas” intent on conquering Potato Chip Dip Mountain. But he wakes to a harsher reality. After an accident, his leg was replaced by a prosthesis, which his costume has concealed; his sword is a sticker-dotted cane. Will his classmates accept the “new” Nathaniel? When he heeds Mama Mary’s advice—“One step at a time”—he discovers that his racially diverse classmates admire both Ninja Nate’s “cool ninja moves” and Nathaniel’s intelligence and kindness. While their ready acceptance of his limb difference is reassuring, the resolution feels somewhat rushed; readers battling similar anxieties may wish for more details. Bold, animated comic-style text and illustrations immerse readers in Nathaniel's vivid imagination while sympathetically conveying his apprehension and family members’ and friends’ support. Nathaniel and his family are Black. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An upbeat introduction to limb difference. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781534476929
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.
Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.
There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781400247417
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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