A squandered opportunity for intergalactic hijinks.
Four friends go to space.
Unicorn wants to visit “the most fabulous planet in the universe.” His friends Mermaid (who’s tan-skinned), Narwhal, and Jellyfish tag along, and though Unicorn acts grumpy to see them, he’s secretly pleased—he had been “nervous about going into space all by himself.” They pass a planet full of merfolk, another with narwhals, and another with jellyfish, but Unicorn points out that going into space was his idea, and he gets to choose the planet. They find one populated entirely with other unicorns identical to the protagonist (it’s hinted that he is the only one of his kind on Earth), but the alien unicorns are annoyed by Jellyfish’s nervous hiccups and, stating that only “fabulous unicorns” are welcome here, force Mermaid, Narwhal, and Jellyfish back into their rocket. Unicorn goes with them, preaching, “They were not very fabulous because they were not very kind to you.” This brightly illustrated picture book relies on the inherent ridiculousness of creatures in space but never coheres into a story. There are too many questions raised about the different planets, why Unicorn wants to leave Earth in the first place, and whether a didactic sentence about kindness is worth hinging a narrative climax on. The shallow cruelty of the rainbow-maned, limp-hoofed unicorns shown working out or having their hair styled in salons could be read as caricatures of gay men, but it will likely go over children's heads. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A squandered opportunity for intergalactic hijinks. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781338828719
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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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