Friendship makes the chores (and everything else) more fun.
A “Super Scarer / Ghostest with the mostest” (according to his business card) learns a bit about being a ghost…and about being a human.
Sir Simon has haunted all sorts of things, from a bus stop to a potato, but he’s just gotten his first haunted house assignment, which means he’ll have “Ghost chores” to do: stair creaking, toilet flushing, attic stomping, etc. But when the expected elderly couple (“PRO: Sleep all the time / CON: None!”) turn out to be a grandmother and her grandson (“KIDS / PRO: None! / CON: Too curious”), can Simon survive the kid’s inquisitiveness? If it means getting out of chores, sure. But it turns out that Chester (hysterically!) isn’t so good at ghostly chores. And when Simon feels a bit of empathy for Chester, whose parents are separated, and he voluntarily helps Chester with the boy’s chores, Simon is just as bad (and funny) at “human chores.” But both are very good at being each other’s friend. Simon is one very expressive ghost, managing with just the basic facial features and two tiny arms to convey everything from frustration to deviousness. Speech bubbles and illustrations that range from double-page spreads all the way down to vignettes—with some very funny cross-sections—help break up the somewhat lengthy tale, though there’s enough detail in the pictures (made with “Ghost toots and Photoshop”) to keep readers riveted. Chester and his grandmother both have brown skin.
Friendship makes the chores (and everything else) more fun. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-101-91909-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.
Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.
There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781400247417
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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