A satisfyingly—and deceptively—simple tale about sincere pleasures in hectic times.
Amid a bustling city, a young boy seeks something to call his own.
A young boy with pale skin and dark brown hair feels special. For the first time, he has his own money. But what will he buy? Told in the first person, the boy’s narrative features evocative language that conveys his experiences as he takes in the sights, smells, and temptations of the shops. The boy is portrayed in bold primary colors, drawing readers’ eyes with each page turn; around him, a racially diverse crowd rushes about, painted in a fainter palette. Contemplating toys, tasty treats, and more, the boy is bumped by a kid on a skateboard and loses most of his coins down a storm drain. Dejected, the boy goes into a shop with a sign that says “Smile” and asks the brown-skinned shopkeeper if he can afford a very small smile. The boy has previously been mostly on his own, but the shopkeeper interacts with him directly and gives him just what he needs—for free. In doing so, he opens up the boy’s perspective to appreciate the world around him. Simple illustrations brimming with eye-catching details are stylistically reminiscent of Uri Shulevitz with a dash of Tomie dePaola. The classic, subdued palette perfectly complements the boy’s journey, fading to gray at the story’s darkest moment and brightening with the resolution.
A satisfyingly—and deceptively—simple tale about sincere pleasures in hectic times. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68263-255-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
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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