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PING'S PERFECT POT

Name: PING'S PERFECT POT
Author: Helen H. Wu
ISBN: 9798889830429

by Helen H. Wu ; illustrated by Zihua Yang ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 2025

A charming story of encouragement, illustrated with life and movement.

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A young Chinese girl discovers the beauty of imperfection during a Lunar New Year celebration.

When Grandpa picks up a tangerine tree at the market, Ping’s excited (“It will bring prosperity and good luck”). She decides that the leafy new resident needs a “perfect pot,” so she gathers her clay and gets to work. Ping deems her first effort too “clumsy.” Meanwhile, Grandpa cleans up around her and gently urges her on. The evenly paced narrative is artfully spotted with onomatopoeias as Ping attempts various media with rigor: She uses papier-mâché and vials of colorful glitter and tries to wrap yarn around a bowl. But nothing is just right. Yang fills every page with bright hues and intricate details, creating vivid scenes. Alluring illustrations show Grandpa decorating the house for the festivities as he urges Ping to persevere. Through Grandpa’s dialogue, Wu provides pragmatic examples on how to take a mindful approach to challenges, and finally, after taking a deep breath, Ping realizes her artistic vision. Grandpa praises her, but “something is still missing.” Ping eventually finds beauty within the flaws of her prior projects and decides to include them in the final celebratory display, each holding plants of their own. Her embrace of all aspects of the creative process makes for a delightful holiday tale.

A charming story of encouragement, illustrated with life and movement. (information on Lunar New Year traditions, author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025

ISBN: 9798889830429

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Beaming Books

Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)