bookshelf

MISTY MOLE GETS NEW GLASSES

Name: MISTY MOLE GETS NEW GLASSES
Author: Yasmin El-Rouby
ISBN: 9781915584182

From the Misty Mole series

by Yasmin El-Rouby ; illustrated by Ishy Walters ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2024

An upbeat and eye-opening primer on dealing with myopia.

bookshelf

Misty Mole realizes that her eyesight needs correcting.

Misty’s friend Sunny Squirrel says that Misty’s painting of the Woodlands is all wrong. Walking to school, Misty trips over obstacles in her path. When Mrs. Owly asks students to read from the board, Misty squints and must stand close. Farley Fox taunts Misty, launching a paper airplane her way; she sees only a blur. Misty imagines she’s Super Mole, with the power to see far-off objects. Then Mrs. Owly announces a schoolwide art competition. Farley is convinced that Misty’s “weird” paintings will lose; Misty, who loves art, sadly wonders if that’s what others think of her work. Mrs. Owly tells Misty she’s noticed her vision difficulties and says the school nurse might be able to help. Misty eventually sees an eye doctor, is diagnosed with myopia (she’s near-sighted, or, as this U.K. import puts it, “short-sighted”), and selects a pair of “sparkly, rosy” glasses. Thereafter, exuding Super Mole’s confidence and strength, Misty doesn’t stumble, sees friends from afar, dodges paper planes—and, oh, wins the art contest with her “blurry,” Monet-like painting. Youngsters who’ve acquired new glasses themselves will be uplifted by this reassuring tale, written by an optometrist. It’s also an important wake-up call for adults to have their children’s vision corrected. Walter’s muted illustrations are lively; snub-nosed Misty and the other animal characters are endearing.

An upbeat and eye-opening primer on dealing with myopia. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 11, 2024

ISBN: 9781915584182

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Neem Tree Press

Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

- BOOK REVIEW
MISTY MOLE GOES SCREEN-FREE
by Yasmin El-Rouby ; illustrated by Ishy Walters

bookshelf

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...

bookshelf

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

bookshelf

IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

bookshelf

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)