A whimsical reminder that our differences are what make us special.
Being different can be hard—but wonderful, too.
On Kipekee the giraffe’s first school day, she’s uncertain which class to join. Her coat’s brown, so Hana Hippo suggests the camels. Azar Aardvark ties a fake hump on that falls off when Kipekee swims with the class. Azar proposes the llamas, though Kipekee lacks a woolly coat. Pia Panda’s sure one will grow; Hana places a woolly rug over Kipekee’s back, but it flies off when she climbs rocks. Hana suggests the zebras because most young zebras’ coats are brown with stripes. Pia wraps Kipekee with toilet paper strips, which unravel. Kipekee joins the gazelles, though she lacks horns. A headband with springy “horns” fails, falling off when Kipekee jumps hurdles. Finally, she takes stock of her physical attributes. Noticing the “Giraffe Class” sign, she understands where she really belongs and settles in beautifully. The helpers agree and add a picture to the sign: one depicting a giraffe without spots—like Kipekee! When the giraffes throw a party, Kipekee invites her new best buddies. No matter they don’t resemble anyone else: Appearances don’t count among pals. Children will be charmed by this delightful tale about friendship, uniqueness, inclusion, and acceptance, based on the true story of Kipekee, born in a Tennessee zoo in 2023, the first giraffe without spots born in the United States. The lively color illustrations, featuring an all-animal cast, are full of expressive, comical fun.
A whimsical reminder that our differences are what make us special. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780711296343
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Happy Yak
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 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
Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.
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)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7033-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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