Don’t boop this book away! Embrace this lively, creative look at asserting one’s boundaries.
Don’t touch that anemone!
A “lemony…anonymous anemone” has just one demand: “Please, oh, please, / DON’T / BOOP / ME!” The accompanying illustrations show the sea anemone recoiling when a purple fish enthusiastically nuzzles it. The anemone is an avatar for a brown-skinned child who tells readers, “If you ever feel, like me, / that you’d prefer / to stay boop-free / just say these words / assertively— // NO / BOOPING / ME! I / AM / AN ANENOME!” Despite their pleas, both anemone and child delight in community and celebration, dancing along with their peers as everyone respects their need for space. This ingenious story doubles as a scientific portrait of an animal with a fun-sounding name and a lesson on setting boundaries. Vail’s rhythmic, rhyming text has a playfulness to it that will propel readers forward, making it an ideal candidate for a vibrant, educational read-aloud. Raschka’s clever art uses paint and embroidery on burlap to create an expressive world full of textures and colors. A spread featuring the unfortunate “boop” depicts numerous silent sea anemones in visible distress in an explosion of stitching, packing as much punch as the one featuring the child making a vehement exclamation. Backmatter includes an author’s note in which Vail discusses her own (misguided) experiences with anemones as well as information on these fascinating sea creatures.
Don’t boop this book away! Embrace this lively, creative look at asserting one’s boundaries. (photograph) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9780063414723
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
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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