A fine work with a caring message and appealing illustrations.
Hayes’ picture book shows readers that it’s okay to have unique sensory needs.
Under no circumstances does Quincy like getting his feet wet. This is unusual for little ducks like him, and swans and geese that live at Dragonfly Pond cruelly mock him, asking if he’ll ever swim and why he cries. However, he also has a few friends that encourage him to come swimming with them. Quincy can’t express exactly what he hates about the feeling of wet feet. He tries to wear bright purple flip flops into the water, but they float away; next, Quincy tries wearing a snorkel mask and flippers, but pond water leaks through the holes. He again tries to join his friends for an aquatic adventure by wearing galoshes, but they’re not tall enough to keep water off his feet. Finally, Quincy decides to wear waders, which keep his feet nice and dry, and his friends surprise him by wearing waders of their own. Other ducks jump into the pond with Quincy, celebrating the fact that he feels comfortable enough to swim around the pond. When swans and geese appear to make fun of Quincy again, his friends help him ignore them and celebrate that Quincy persevered to find a solution to his sensory needs: The entire story is appealingly written in rhyming couplets with first-person narration from Quincy himself: “It took a few tries / To make this work,” he tells his friends. “Thank you for seeing / Beyond my quirk.” Dutton’s full-color cartoon illustrations are absolutely charming, and the textured background shading is a lovely touch. The story subtly integrates a clear message about accepting people who have specific sensory needs, and it’s one that young readers will easily understand, whether or not they have sensitivities of their own. Quincy also effectively models determination throughout with a daily mindful mantra: “Today’s a new day. / My friends are here.”
A fine work with a caring message and appealing illustrations.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781737754923
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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