The illustrations are cute, but the book doesn’t work as a lesson on either the weather or regulating bad moods.
When too many negative experiences pile up on the same day, a young cloud’s mood bursts into a storm.
Misty’s day starts with a rude awakening by a passing airplane and continues to go downhill. With news of each friend who is too busy to play (Wispy has schoolwork, Scud’s babysitting, and Kelvin’s getting new eyeglasses), Misty’s bad mood worsens until she just has to yell, resulting in flashes of lightning, crashes of thunder, and a downpour, which rains on the parade, or in this case, baseball game, of a human girl named Clare. Clare expresses her displeasure by stamping her feet and kicking over a block tower. In a contrived ending, Misty’s mom points out her daughter’s favorite sight—hot air balloons—Misty calms down and her friends come to watch, too, and Clare and her mom are able to get in some baseball practice outside. The animation-inspired illustrations are delightfully imaginative. The ethereal, fluffy, white cloud characters have clothes, skin, and hair tinted in light shades of pink, blue, and purple. Clare and her mother are White; teammates are diverse. Backmatter includes three weather-related activities, a brief verse about getting over a bad mood, and some weather facts from the Today show meteorologist author. These seem rather scattershot, however, and will likely go over the heads of children young enough to enjoy the story. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The illustrations are cute, but the book doesn’t work as a lesson on either the weather or regulating bad moods. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-18038-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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