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KIMMY CAN'T

Name: KIMMY CAN'T
Author: Melissa Allen Heath
ISBN: 9781838757335

by Melissa Allen Heath illustrated by Victoria Hatton ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 29, 2023

A worthwhile but uneven tale about building self-confidence.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING | CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
WHY?
by Melissa Allen Heath ; illustrated by Frances Ives

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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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A BIKE LIKE SERGIO'S

by Maribeth Boelts ; illustrated by Noah Z. Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 4, 2016

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...

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Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.

This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.

Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)