A loving ode to libraries, more needed than ever in a world of increasing book bans.
The magic of a public library, revealed.
Piper Waterstone, a plump little chipmunk with a voracious appetite for reading, never lets her books out of her sight. They are so special to her that she can’t bear to part with them, so instead, she carries them with her wherever she goes. As her collection grows, however, transporting it becomes increasingly difficult. One rainy afternoon, her bike wobbles, and her wagon full of books spills onto the wet street. They get soaked. Piper is devastated. A gentle mole sees her plight and ushers her into the closest building—which happens to be the library. Piper looks up, mouth agape and paws clasped in wonder. This building is full of books! A glow from the majestic windows (or possibly the magic) envelops her and the mole librarian as they face the endless bookshelves. If Piper is going to join the library, she needs to learn to share the books that she loves so dearly. Is that a commitment she is willing to make? Deep, warm tones, with bright spots of gleaming lamps, wrap the space in comfort and coziness, while the anthropomorphized animals have a sweetly old-fashioned air. Notably, there’s nary an electronic device in sight.
A loving ode to libraries, more needed than ever in a world of increasing book bans. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780316512749
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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
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