A lighthearted road map for grappling with “muy bad” feelings.
After a young Latine girl has a terrible day at school, her grandmother lends a sympathetic ear.
Martina tells Abuela about all the things that happened on this “muy bad day”: Her seat on the bus had a broken spring, she fell in the mud and later stepped on “un grande wad of gum,” and Mean Mike threw a worm at her. Gentle Abuela commiserates (“That was un día muy malo!”), but not even a big hug makes things better. Abuela suggests that Martina write down her thoughts, but that only serves as evidence of how bad the day really was. The child stews sadly, but when she hears music wafting in from the kitchen, she wanders in to see Abuela singing and using kitchen implements like instruments. The rhythm is so contagious that Martina can’t resist! Abuela’s finally found a way to make Martina feel better. A fiesta to celebrate her muy bad day, in all its unfortunate glory, is just what Martina needs. With vibrant colors, adorably drawn, expressive characters, and pages crammed with balloons and musical notes, this is a fantastic reminder that sometimes it’s best to lean into negative feelings. Interspersed with Spanish, the tale warmly acknowledges that tough days are hard but that with support and a good sense of humor, they can eventually be turned into sunnier ones.
A lighthearted road map for grappling with “muy bad” feelings. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063284524
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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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