Magoon gets his message across: Be the best you you can be.
A pencil goes through an existential crisis when his eraser criticizes his art.
The upcoming art show and its attendant grand prize have got Linus, a little yellow pencil, and all the other art supplies (crayons, a paintbrush, and a ruler, among others) very excited. But at the other end from Linus’ point, eraser Ernie is extremely critical of Linus’ drawings. Ernie moves from embarrassment at their quality to outright anger, and he takes it out on Linus. The pencil’s cheerful expression soon morphs from worry through sadness and shock to depression as Linus watches the other supplies creating beautiful work. Then, “feeling dull,” Linus meets Smudge in a “cave” (a pencil sharpener) and gets some solid advice about using the talents you have when you are able: “Find your path by drawing it.” And Linus does just that, finding a way for him to draw and for Ernie to erase that creates something totally new and different. Readers will notice that although their work attracts a crowd at the show, no grand prize is awarded, which makes the ending more of a fizzle than a finale. Magoon’s digital artwork uses scanned paper textures manipulated in Photoshop, with color used masterfully—the result emphasizes the different looks achieved by using the various art supplies. The simple but expressive faces on the implements are standouts.
Magoon gets his message across: Be the best you you can be. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-00627-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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