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ONCE UPON A TIME

Name: ONCE UPON A TIME
Author: Niki Daly
ISBN: 0-374-35633-5

by Niki Daly & illustrated by Niki Daly ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2003

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Sarie, a South African first grader, loves school but hates to read out loud to the class. She always stumbles, and Charmaine and Carmen laugh at her. Her friend Emile is cute and offers encouraging smiles, but Sarie still has no self-confidence. She spends her Sundays with Auntie Anna pretending to drive a rusted-out car. One Sunday, bored of “driving,” Sarie finds an old picture book of Cinderella. She and Auntie Anna read it together. Sarie takes the book to school, envisions the words in her head, but still stumbles in reading. Auntie Anna makes reading practice more fun by dressing Sarie up like Cinderella, and Sarie improves and proves herself in front of the class and the principal. She invites Emile over for a Sunday “drive,” and together they enjoy the near magic of the South African desert. Daly (Old Bob’s Brown Bear, 2002, etc.) once again captures a moment in a South African childhood and makes it universal with a simple story and beautiful watercolor illustrations. Sarie’s confusion and subsequent joy are evident in her face as she and the reader discover the once-upon-a-time magic that reading offers together. This is an excellent choice for one-on-one sharing or lap story times. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 10, 2003

ISBN: 0-374-35633-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2003

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
ON MY PAPA'S SHOULDERS
by Niki Daly ; illustrated by Niki Daly

- BOOK REVIEW
FLY HIGH, LOLO
by Niki Daly ; illustrated by Niki Daly

- BOOK REVIEW
YOU'RE A STAR, LOLO
by Niki Daly ; illustrated by Niki Daly

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WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES, MR. BROWN?

by Justin Rhodes ; illustrated by Heather Dickinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2023

Pedestrian.

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Mr. Brown can’t help with farm chores because his shoes are missing—a common occurrence in his household and likely in many readers’ as well.

Children will be delighted that the titular Mr. Brown is in fact a child. After Mr. Brown looks in his closet and sorts through his other family members’ shoes with no luck, his father and his siblings help him search the farm. Eventually—after colorful pages that enable readers to spot footwear hiding—the family gives up on their hunt, and Mr. Brown asks to be carried around for the chores. He rides on his father’s shoulders as Papa gets his work done, as seen on a double-page spread of vignettes. The resolution is more of a lesson for the adult readers than for children, a saccharine moment where father and son express their joy that the missing shoes gave them the opportunity for togetherness—with advice for other parents to appreciate those fleeting moments themselves. Though the art is bright and cheerful, taking advantage of the setting, it occasionally is misaligned with the text (for example, the text states that Mr. Brown is wearing his favorite green shirt while the illustration is of a shirt with wide stripes of white and teal blue, which could confuse readers at the point where they’re trying to figure out which family member is Mr. Brown). The family is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Pedestrian. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 14, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-5460-0389-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: WorthyKids/Ideals

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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BUNNY MONEY

From the Max & Ruby series

by Rosemary Wells & illustrated by Rosemary Wells ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1997

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In the siblings' latest adventure, their grandmother is having a birthday (again! see Bunny Cakes, p. 67), so Ruby takes Max shopping. A music box with skating ballerinas is Ruby's idea of the perfect present; Max favors a set of plastic vampire teeth. Ruby's $15 goes fast, and somehow, most of it is spent on Max. The music box of Ruby's dreams costs $100, so she settles for musical earrings instead. There isn't even a dollar left for the bus, so Max digs out his lucky quarter and phones Grandma, who drives them home—happily wearing her new earrings and vampire teeth. As ever, Wells's sympathies are with the underdog: Max, in one-word sentences, out-maneuvers his officious sister once again. Most six- year-olds will be able to do the mental subtraction necessary to keep track of Ruby's money, and Wells helps by illustrating the wallet and its dwindling contents at the bottom of each page where a transaction occurs. Younger children may need to follow the author's suggestion and have an adult photocopy the ``bunny money'' on the endpapers, so they can count it out. Either way, the book is a great adjunct to primary-grade math lessons. (Picture book. 4-7)