A worthwhile but uneven tale about building self-confidence.
In this debut picture book, a girl learns to turn a downward spiral into a chance to boost her self-esteem.
Kimmy is an elementary schooler with a self-confidence problem. When her teacher Miss Jones declares that the class will spend the day writing poetry, Kimmy thinks: “Kimmy can’t, Kimmy can’t, Kimmy can’t.” Later, the same thing happens when Kimmy’s gym teacher takes everybody through a lesson on cartwheels. Kimmy watches as all her classmates make their attempts and seemingly succeed. But when she tries, she falls and gets caught in her negative thought cycle once again. After Miss Jones announces that it’s time for a math flash-card exercise, Kimmy is too afraid to even attempt it. Miss Jones finally approaches her and asks her a single question that turns Kimmy’s whole worldview on its head. From then on, Kimmy is inspired to believe in herself and be more confident than ever before. Heath’s tale is somewhat less inspired than Kimmy herself, as its core lesson is valuable but its text and plot are rather sparse. The story moves quickly and lacks detailed descriptions. Yet its pivotal moment will prove a useful tool for people of all ages to have in their arsenals when confronted with low self-esteem issues. Hatton’s simple illustrations feature a diverse cast with a variety of skin tones. Unfortunately, the pictures confusingly include a yellow cat in attendance at Kimmy’s classes, with no explanation in the text or images.
A worthwhile but uneven tale about building self-confidence. (Picture book for ages 3-4)Pub Date: June 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781838757335
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Nightingale Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Haphazard but jolly enough for one outing; it probably won’t last for more.
A flurry of mail addressed to Duncan’s crayons ushers in the Christmas season in this novelty spinoff of the bestselling The Day the Crayons Quit (2013) and The Day the Crayons Came Home (2015).
Actual cards and letters are tucked into envelopelike pouches pasted to the pages; these are joined in some cases by other ephemera for a package that is likely to invite sudden, intense play followed by loss and/or damage that will render the book a disappointment to reread. That’s probably OK, as in contrast to the clever story that kicked this small series off, this outing has a hastily composed feel that lacks cohesion. The first letter is addressed to Peach from Mom and includes a paper doll of the “naked” (de-wrappered) crayon along with a selection of tabbed changes of clothing that includes a top hat and tails and a bikini top and bottom. Peach’s implied gender fluidity does not mitigate the unfortunate association of peach with skin color established in the first book. The sense of narrative improvisation is cemented with an early page turn that takes the crayons from outdoors snow play to “Feeling…suddenly very Christmas-y, the crayons headed inside.” Readers can unpack a box of punch-out decorations; a recipe for gluten-free Christmas cookies that begins “go to store and buy gluten-free cookies”; a punch-out dreidel (turns out Grey is Jewish); a board game (“six-sided die” not included); and a map of Esteban (aka Pea Green) and Neon Red’s travels with Santa.
Haphazard but jolly enough for one outing; it probably won’t last for more. (Novelty. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-51574-6
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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