Untrammeled and honest.
A busy mother and child stay connected with notes as an important separation approaches in Sher and Leng’s debut collaboration.
Raiding the fridge for breakfast before school, brown-skinned Skip finds a sticky note from pale-skinned Mom, who has apparently already left, on the door: “Let’s have one more movie night before you go.” When Mom returns, a similar note awaits her in reply: “I’m not going. Not EVER!” Over the next few days, notes continue appearing from Mom as she readies Skip for an upcoming departure to sleepover camp, as well as notes with replies from Skip, who has no intention of attending camp. Alongside reminders for each other about buying milk, trips to the laundromat, and a visit from Mimsy (grandma), the family’s notes also contain a gentle tug of war as Skip adamantly insists that camp is out of the question and Mom patiently counters each concern. Sher manages to capture the familiar anxiety of a first-time camper as well as the quiet persistence of a parent’s reassurance as these succinct but affecting messages move steadily from unease to confidence. The sticky notes themselves move in and out of the limelight with each page turn as Leng’s breathy illustrations exude the easy energy of the characters while bringing their deceptively simple notes to full emotional life. The open ambiguity of the illustrations will allow readers to imagine Skip as either Mom’s biracial biological child or her adoptive child of color.
Untrammeled and honest. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-55498-483-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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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