Different preferences don’t impede inter-species friendship here.
Entertaining oneself is good, but finding a new friend (and a lost boomerang) is even better.
In this series entry, Kangaroo is bored, but she quickly finds inspiration in a cloud and digs her boomerang from her cluttered pouch. When Boomerang fails to return and she has to wait, she distracts herself with shadow-boxing and then with making a kangaroo-shaped “sand queen.” Hopping into the forest to search, Kangaroo bumps into a tree, then introduces herself to the creature she’s knocked loose. Kangaroo would like to play, but koalas “sleep by day.” She gives him a ride in her pouch, but Koala gets motion sick, and they quickly return to his tree. Though Koala wants to nap, Kangaroo notices that his “two pairs of toes” (koalas have five front toes) would be great at boomerang-flinging, and Koala, realizing that the missing boomerang is in his tree, retrieves it. Sleeping forgotten, they become friends, and he asks Kangaroo to teach him to throw it. Of the three discussion questions that follow, one asks about story comprehension; the other two ask readers to connect with similar experiences they might have had. The four-beat lines rhyme, but uneven line-lengths, varying from eight to 13 or 15 syllables, can make for rough reading aloud. Cartoonish grayscale illustrations are not cute or cuddly, but they do show the action. Discussion questions at the end of the book offer a jumping-off point for conversations about playtime and differences.
Different preferences don’t impede inter-species friendship here. (Easy reader. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781631637834
Page Count: 48
Publisher: North Star Editions
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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