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HOW ARE YOU, VERITY?

Name: HOW ARE YOU, VERITY?
Author: Meghan Wilson Duff
ISBN: 9781433841514

by Meghan Wilson Duff ; illustrated by Taylor Barron ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 22, 2023

An effective breakdown of a common greeting from a neurodivergent point of view.

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A child learns the nuances of a typical social interaction.

Verity is excited for their upcoming field trip to the aquarium. They know a lot about marine life, like vampire squid and sea sheep (a type of sea slug). Whenever anyone asks Verity, “How are you?” the child responds with interesting facts about sea creatures or the effect of plastics on the oceans. Later, their brother John explains that when most people ask that question, they are just making conversation and don’t want a long answer. Verity experiments, asking different people how they’re doing, and determines that most of the time, “ ‘How are you?’ seems like a fancy way to say hello,” but other times, people can be tricky to understand. When the field trip is canceled, John asks Verity how they’re feeling. Verity is quiet (“Were they supposed to say ‘Good’ now?”) until John explains he knows Verity must be upset. Verity vents their frustration, John thanks them for sharing, and Verity asks for help with an idea. This gentle, encouraging story centers the experience of a neurodivergent child learning a societal norm—as well as times when it doesn’t apply. The reader’s note offers more information on neurodiversity and advice to caregivers and educators. The illustrations have an airbrushlike quality that, combined with the vibrant colors, emits a playful energy. Verity and John have brown skin and Afro-textured hair, while the neighbors are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An effective breakdown of a common greeting from a neurodivergent point of view. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023

ISBN: 9781433841514

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association

Review Posted Online: June 14, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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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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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)