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MY BRIGHT FRIEND

Name: MY BRIGHT FRIEND
Author: Simon Boulerice
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2189-7

by Simon Boulerice ; illustrated by Marilyn Faucher ; translated by Sophie B. Watson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 24, 2019

Readers hoping for strong storytelling won’t find it here.

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A child coping with divorce finds comfort in an unexpected place.

The opening lines, translated from French, explain in a very unchildlike tone that “Ludo’s parents didn’t love each other anymore. There was nothing to be done—love is like a flame, and their love had been extinguished.” After this early mention of Ludo’s mother, she never appears again, and instead the story takes place when Ludo stays with his city-dwelling father. Ludo doesn’t like being there and spends his days indoors, but when he looks outside he sees a traffic light and is captivated. His father playfully tells him a “very patient little man” lives inside of it and changes the lights. Ludo believes him and worries about the man, so he decides to leave him toast with jam each night. He’s delighted when he finds only crumbs on the plate the next day, and Ludo’s father is, in turn, delighted by his son’s spirited imagination. A series of curious events suggests that Ludo isn’t imagining this exchange at all and that the little man really does live in the traffic light. Unfortunately, the wordy story’s logic has many holes, and they aren’t filled by the illustrations, resulting in a less-than-satisfying picture book. In Faucher’s bright, naïve illustrations, the cast is an all-white one.

Readers hoping for strong storytelling won’t find it here. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4598-2189-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Orca

Review Posted Online: May 21, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
FLORENCE & LEON
by Simon Boulerice ; illustrated by Delphie Coté-Lacroix ; translated by Sophie B. Watson

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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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)