An uplifting tale about embracing what makes us different.
When Anjali’s classmates make fun of her name, her mother helps her see the beauty in it and in her Indian heritage.
On her seventh birthday, Anjali is thrilled to receive exactly the present she’d hoped for: a brand-new bicycle. She takes her gift to the school carnival, where she and her best friends, Mary and Courtney, spot a booth selling license plates for bikes. Although the other girls immediately find plates with their names, Anjali doesn’t have any luck. She asks the shopkeeper for help, but he brushes her off. Even worse, an older boy from school overhears the conversation and mocks her name as other kids join in. Anjali returns home in tears and, over dinner, threatens to change her name to Angie. Anjali’s mother tells her that her name is Sanskrit and that it comes from India (“Anjali is a gift. The most precious kind. Divine. Just like you!”). The book’s message is laudable, and the protagonist is delightfully sparkly. Anjali cuts an endearing, large-eyed figure in Blank’s artwork, and the scene in which Anjali’s mother explains her name shimmers with colors. At times, the prose can be clunky, and the bullying scenes may upset very young readers. Overall, though, it’s an affirming read that will resonate with many readers. Mary is tan-skinned, Courtney is White-presenting, and the community is diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An uplifting tale about embracing what makes us different. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-64883-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 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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