An often fun read-aloud that could use a spoonful of science.
A group of children create gingerbread houses in Pattison’s picture book, illustrated by Joven.
When teacher Miss Sheridan announces a gingerbread-house-making contest, her young students race into action to create an entry for the class. At first, they burn the cookies, spread icing too thin, construct uneven walls, and place the roof askew. They also don’t put enough gumdrops on the structure, which eventually caves in. However, with a whole lot more icing—“We glue and we glue and we glue and we glue”—and swift chiseling, they manage to complete the house, which wins the grand prize. Joven’s playful, humorous color illustrations feature construction equipment and children with various skin tones, hairstyles, and eye colors. Pattison’s love of rhyming and repetition is on full display: “This is the roof, that we drop right on top….And it’s nibbled and pinched, and that simply must stop!” However, the book’s subtitle, “a STEM engineering story,” suggests that it will include math or science—in backmatter, at least—yet none accompanies the story; a spread titled “Lessons we’ve learned” reads like an afterthought. Despite these hiccups, Pattison’s text begs to be read aloud, and Joven’s spreads offer dynamic visuals that give readers’ eyes many places to travel on the page.
An often fun read-aloud that could use a spoonful of science.Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-62-944157-3
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Mims House
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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