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SOPHIE'S SQUASH GO TO SCHOOL

Name: SOPHIE'S SQUASH GO TO SCHOOL
Author: Pat Zietlow Miller
ISBN: 978-0-553-50944-1

From the Sophie's Squash series

by Pat Zietlow Miller ; illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 28, 2016

Sophie’s negativity is a definite turnoff, though Steven and his problem-solving are delightful.

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A little girl’s friendship with the two squash she grew in her garden (Bernice’s twin babies from Sophie’s Squash, 2013) gets in the way of a friendship with a real child when Sophie starts school.

Steven Green, a black boy, won’t leave Sophie, a white girl, alone. He sits by her, follows her, and makes all kinds of overtures of friendship. But she rebuffs him, stating that gourds Bonnie and Baxter are all the friends she needs. But readers will catch on pretty quickly that though Sophie seems like one huge bad attitude, with her scowly face, upturned nose, and snootiness, she is beginning to see the value of human friends—she just doesn’t know quite how to reach out to them. But “friends” doesn’t include Steven, especially after she has to put her squash in their winter bed and Steven accidentally tears Sophie’s picture of them. But then Marvin, Steven’s stuffed frog, and Sophie’s parents help the stubborn girl learn that “sometimes growing a friend just takes time.” Wilsdorf’s illustrations, done in watercolor and China ink, provide few clues to the question Miller generates in the text: why in the world is an upbeat and happy kid like Steven so intent on being friends with such a contrary girl? Roshni, seemingly South Asian, and Steven are the only two children of color in the class, and Ms. Park, their teacher, is black.

Sophie’s negativity is a definite turnoff, though Steven and his problem-solving are delightful. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 28, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-553-50944-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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UNSTOPPABLE JOHN
by Pat Zietlow Miller ; illustrated by Jerry Jordan

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LUPE LOPEZ
by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo & Pat Zietlow Miller ; illustrated by Joe Cepeda

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A GIRL CAN BUILD ANYTHING
by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo & Pat Zietlow Miller ; illustrated by Keisha Morris

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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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TINY T. REX AND THE IMPOSSIBLE HUG

by Jonathan Stutzman ; illustrated by Jay Fleck ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2019

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.

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With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?

Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)