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A PLACE FOR FEELINGS

Name: A PLACE FOR FEELINGS
Author: Corey Ann Haydu
ISBN: 9780063269453

by Corey Ann Haydu ; illustrated by Geeta Ladi ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2024

Heartfelt but overly idealistic.

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Big feelings needn’t be scary.

For Mara, “There’s a place for everything!” She’s tucked treasures—even pieces of items she broke unintentionally—into special receptacles. After a confrontation with an angry playmate, Mara realizes that she doesn’t have a place for her “terrible feeling.” Mom explains that one can also keep feelings stored away; hers are in a jewelry box. Mom also divulges where Mara’s brother and dad keep theirs—his closet and the freezer, respectively. Mara figures there must be a feelings repository for her. She tries some ideas, but her feelings don’t fit anywhere. They burst from her dollhouse and can’t be contained within her family’s hiding places. Mara’s emotions are “too big, too wild”; there simply isn’t room for them. Oh, but there is: They fit everywhere. Images depict colorful lines and shapes wafting through the neighborhood, to everyone’s delight. The idea that it’s OK to feel big emotions and helpful to share them with others is an important one. It’s not conveyed convincingly, however, and the ending, while uplifting, strains credulity and ignores the fact that little ones do need to find ways to keep complex emotions in check. Lively illustrations, created digitally and with colored pencils, depict Mara and her family as tan-skinned; background characters are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, age, and physical ability.

Heartfelt but overly idealistic. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: April 23, 2024

ISBN: 9780063269453

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WIDELY UNKNOWN MYTH OF APPLE & DOROTHY
by Corey Ann Haydu

- BOOK REVIEW
LAWLESS SPACES
by Corey Ann Haydu

- BOOK REVIEW
ONE JAR OF MAGIC
by Corey Ann Haydu

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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)