If not a big somersault, this is a playful bit of fun.
A cheerleading chick can’t rouse enthusiasm among her farmyard pals. Sis-boom-NAH!
Leaving behind 11 siblings in their shells, a newly hatched chick springs from her egg, brandishing pompoms and wearing cheerleaders’ gear—pleated skirt and sweater emblazoned with the varsity letter “C.” Not only does Chick strut fancy moves while yay-ing noisily all day, she also tries to persuade other animals to form a squad to root for the (literal) farm team. Nope. The yolk’s on them: After lapsing into a brief funk, the yellow fluffster decides who needs ’em and resolves to create a one-chick team. Guess who shows up: Unbeknownst to Chick (though sharp-eyed readers will have observed it in the artwork all along), her brothers and sisters have hatched, donned their own cheerleader uniforms (that just happened to have arrived in the mail), and have come to join her, while the erstwhile neigh (and oink, moo, and baa) sayers cheer from the sidelines. This is, fittingly, a cheery romp, narrated in bouncy verse that reads and scans well, though the underlying theme may not resonate. Why are chicks so gung-ho about cheerleading? Are many kids among the target audience even familiar with cheerleading and its conventions? The digitally rendered illustrations, mixed with paints and pencil, are lively and energetic, and animals’ faces are expressive. Cheerleading calls are incorporated into the text in display type.
If not a big somersault, this is a playful bit of fun. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-13418-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
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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