An often-explored theme gets an underwhelming treatment.
Friends agree to disagree—eventually.
Huck the bear and Loona the loon love fishing and playing hide-and-seek. But these BFFs can’t do everything together: Loona can’t climb trees with Huck, and he can’t dive to the bottom of the lake with her. When they have trouble agreeing on an activity one day, they quarrel and part ways. But Huck finds that berries taste less sweet when eaten alone, and Loona doesn’t enjoy soaring without Huck cheering her on. The next day, Huck, who initiated the separation, makes a move, bringing Loona a fish to share and acknowledging that she’s more important than anything. Nevertheless, they argue once more while cloud watching (“Psh, that’s not a dragon—it’s a unicorn!” “A unicorn?! How could it be a unicorn?”), and Huck feels angry. Kilgore takes on a familiar topic, but her characters don’t work toward compromise or attempt to hear each other out; the narrative simply comes to an abrupt conclusion as Huck decides “Maybe it’s okay for friends to disagree sometimes.” As a result, their happy ending feels unearned. Though attractive, Weiser’s pastel-hued illustrations lack the zany assuredness of her other books. She gives us a lovely loon and a bear who looks a bit like a stuffie, loose-limbed, purplish, and walking upright. Still, the art can’t elevate the lackluster plot.
An often-explored theme gets an underwhelming treatment. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781506493305
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beaming Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
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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