An especially important book for the current moment that will empower children to stand up in the face of bigotry.
A young girl heals as her community comes together following an antisemitic incident.
Attending Hebrew school helps Leila feel connected to her family and heritage, but after the synagogue’s window is broken, being Jewish suddenly doesn’t feel good or safe. Wondering if her classmates hate her for being different, she tries to hide signs of her Judaism, from her Star of David necklace to the bagel with lox she brings to school for lunch. But when Leila’s diverse classmates help repair the window, she’s reminded that she still belongs and that being Jewish is something to be proud of. Hebrew letters and prayers and Jewish symbols are beautifully woven into both the text and the collage-style illustrations, reinforcing the tale's unique Jewishness alongside its universal message about the importance of allyship. With sensitivity and candor, Sharkan demonstrates how pride in one’s identity can lead to shame and fear in the wake of a hate crime. In an author’s note, she mentions that her story was based on a real-life childhood experience and speaks to the rise in antisemitic incidents around the world; books like these will help young people process complex emotions. Although hate takes forms that can’t be as easily addressed as a broken window, this is nevertheless a lovingly crafted, age-appropriate doorway into a difficult topic. Leila and her family are light-skinned, while their neighborhood is diverse.
An especially important book for the current moment that will empower children to stand up in the face of bigotry. (glossary, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780823455560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
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
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BOOK REVIEW
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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