by Daniela Sosa ; illustrated by Daniela Sosa ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 2022
A delightful springboard to stimulate creative ideas and spark conversations about interpersonal relationships.
Friendship has many faces.
What’s a friend? This sweet, gentle look at friendships describes how they’re formed, developed, maintained, and/or lost. What’s interesting about friendships is how different they are: There are almost as many ways to describe friendships as there are people to create them. Friendships may be fleeting, but they can also “last a lifetime.” They can endure when friends are near or far apart. You can make friends with a sibling or even, wordlessly, with a pet. Friendships can end through words hurled at another in anger. Friendships evoke and test emotions, and they teach. The story, narrated in simple, warm, easily comprehended prose, speaks to children where they are and may provoke further discussions about friendship. The notions of imaginary friends and finding new pals because of shared, mutual interests will especially resonate. Children may also be intrigued by the possibility of friendships that might have been but never were, as in the illustration depicting two children staring at each other, one in a subway car, the other standing outside on the station platform. The final message is most reassuring: A new friend may arrive when you least expect it; just wait and “look closer.” The charming, colorful illustrations depict children who are diverse in terms of race and ability. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A delightful springboard to stimulate creative ideas and spark conversations about interpersonal relationships. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66591-147-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
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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...
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
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by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
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)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
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