Fun and effort trump commercialization and competitiveness every time in sports, and this book tells a plain truth that...
If you have a hankering for hockey, when the Gretzky family weighs in, sit up and listen.
This is a sports story about attitude, which can rarely be emphasized enough, because it rarely sinks in deep enough to leave its lasting mark. Young Taylor has made Wayne’s team—that’s “the kid they are already calling the Great One.” Taylor brings a world of enthusiasm with him, but he has plenty to learn, first and foremost that he has to stop trying to impress everyone else and stop pouting when he makes a mistake. Gretzky and Holomis keep the narrative simple, sticking to the cardinal rules: “You don’t start something and then quit…if you know you’re not the biggest or the fastest player, you work on being the smartest,” Coach Wally tells Taylor after a blunder. He goes on: “I picked you because you worked hard. You had a great attitude.” (Coach Wally is patterned after the Great One’s father.) Noting Coach Wally’s past tense, Taylor goes on to try to be the best he can be on a team that Sylvester has invested with brio and diversity: boys, girls, white kids, dark-skinned kids, one gentleman with purple locks. Sports will never deliver the most unless the words of Coach Wally are taken to heart: “As long as you have fun, work hard and do your best, that is all that matters.”
Fun and effort trump commercialization and competitiveness every time in sports, and this book tells a plain truth that Gretzky learned early. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-670-06990-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Puffin/Penguin Random House Canada
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.
Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.
There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781400247417
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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