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ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Name: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Author: Barney Saltzberg
ISBN: 978-1-939547-42-2

by Barney Saltzberg ; illustrated by Barney Saltzberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2018

This sweet story will help young readers recognize their own needs—for space, time, and a good book

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When Will, a sheep, pushes his presumably older sibling, Olive, out of her chair more times than she can count, Olive decides that “Enough is enough!” and tells Will that she wants to be alone for a while.

“How do you know when enough is enough?” Will asks, now sitting comfortably on the chair. “I just know,” says Olive, and she tears a hole in the page (of the book readers are holding), escaping into a green meadow in the next page. When Will follows her—“You forgot your book!”—she suggests he look at the pictures while she’s away, assuring him that she will read to him when she gets back from her “alone time.” Olive then goes from one page to the next, (literally) enjoying her “space” and “time” alone as she floats through outer space, swims with some fish, and walks across a tight rope. When it gets “Almost too quiet,” Olive misses Will and goes back through the hole in the page, back to the chair in the living room, to read to him. Saltzberg uses simple bold type and cartoonlike images to dramatize an all-too-familiar sibling dynamic that, refreshingly, evolves to a state in which both siblings are equally considerate of the other’s wishes.

This sweet story will help young readers recognize their own needs—for space, time, and a good book . (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: May 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-939547-42-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Creston

Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SMELL OF WET DOG
by Barney Saltzberg ; illustrated by Barney Saltzberg

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ARLO NEEDS GLASSES
by Barney Saltzberg ; illustrated by Barney Saltzberg

- BOOK REVIEW
A DELICIOUS STORY
by Barney Saltzberg ; illustrated by Barney Saltzberg

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THE COOL BEAN MAKES A SPLASH

From the I Can Read! series

by Jory John ; illustrated by Pete Oswald ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2024

Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.

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The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.

Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.

Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)