A lighthearted hero’s journey.
In this tongue-in-cheek tale, a band of children travel from one house to another, crossing a playground on their supposedly treacherous trek.
Before any characters appear, a scroll-like document begins: “On 20th August, a group of young explorers was charged with a dangerous mission. They were to travel across wild country to deliver a valuable parcel.” The document notes that two heroes would be recognized by the end of the journey. Every page uses similarly dramatic language as narration, and every page’s humor lies in how the artwork—delightful sketches rendered in ink and watercolor—subverts the text. An ordinary-looking parent in a bathrobe handing a beribboned box to a young boy named Robert is in fact the “senior officer” who sends him on the mission. Team leader Robert’s exploring party loses members along the way: Biologist Henry succumbs to an insect bite; botanist Ivy is “ambushed” by another “senior officer,” who shows up, glaring, with Ivy’s ballet slippers; Lily the animal handler and Floyd the dog leave when Floyd gets distracted by a thrown stick. When only two explorers remain, navigator Will tumbles to the ground in the “sandy desert”—a sandbox, of course—and Robert lets him ride on his back until they reach their destination, where more revelation awaits. Children will appreciate this absorbing adventure, which honors the power of imagination as it tickles the funny bone. Most characters are light-skinned; Henry is brown-skinned.
A lighthearted hero’s journey. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781772783216
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pajama Press
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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