A ray of sunshine for those youngsters who, like our protagonist, know what truly matters.
Little Cloud is different from the others.
Fong’s delicate, digitally compiled watercolors introduce ephemeral white clouds with human features flying against purplish-gray skies. Everyone is “busy being busy,” assembling their lightning flashes and water buckets, getting ready to storm—all but Little Cloud, who implores them to “look at the wonderful things below.” “NO TIME!” thunders Big Gray Cloud. But Little Cloud’s enchanted by the sights below. Briefly, we see several tall evergreens reflected in Big Gray Cloud’s angry eyes. Finally, Little Cloud spots actual trees on the land below as a warmer palette takes over. Full-color, finely detailed farm scenes depict a red barn and a silver silo and a young East Asian–presenting child waving from a farmhouse window. The scene expands, and small vignettes show animal families waking up. Little Cloud is enchanted to see a little black-and-white cow glance up with a wink. “FOCUS!” Big Gray Cloud yells at the mischievous subordinate, but suddenly, an orange glow enters the picture, and bright sunlight chases away the clouds. No one can get over their disappointment, except Little Cloud, who’s delighted at the pleasures of a beautiful day. Many readers will relate; this is a simple but effective read-aloud that makes lovely use of visual storytelling.
A ray of sunshine for those youngsters who, like our protagonist, know what truly matters. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063359994
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
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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