AUNTIE MAGGIE AND HER FIVE NEPHEWS AND NIECES

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AUNTIE MAGGIE AND HER FIVE NEPHEWS AND NIECES

Name: AUNTIE MAGGIE AND HER FIVE NEPHEWS AND NIECES
Author: Sandra Alonso
ISBN: 9788418302671

by Sandra Alonso ; illustrated by Enrique Quevedo ; translated by Jon Brokenbrow ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2023

Offbeat and lovely.

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The weight of carrying problems around just might make you sink.

Auntie Maggie has five nieces and nephews, with the delightful names of Timmy, Tammy, Tommy, Tummy, and Temmy. They are all going on an outing to the swimming pool. Auntie Maggie is the first to dive in, plugging her nose and pointing her toes. Timmy’s about to dive in next when he realizes that he forgot his goggles. He leaps onto Aunt Maggie’s back, keeping his head above the water so his eyes don’t get irritated. Each kid, in turn, realizes they forgot something (except Tummy) and piles onto poor Auntie Maggie. She sinks lower and lower, carrying the weight of each child’s problem. Back at home, Auntie Maggie teaches everyone problem-solving techniques that they can use to become more independent. The presentation is a bit quirky in this tale translated from Spanish, but the art matches the absurdity beautifully. Cluttered with incredible details, each spread is a feast for the eye. Auntie Maggie is eccentric and has fantastical toys all around the house, while the pool scenes are filled with a plethora of characters, each with their own imaginative backstories. Auntie Maggie and most of her family (along with the poolgoers) are light-skinned, except Tammy, who has darker skin. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Offbeat and lovely. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2023

ISBN: 9788418302671

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Cuento de Luz

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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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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CLAYMATES

by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017

The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...

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Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.

A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.

The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)