A tale sure to have even the most uncertain wallflowers cutting loose on the dance floor.
A young South Asian girl finds the courage to dance while attending a wedding with family.
Talia is entranced by the bhangra dancers as they leap through the air. But much as she’d like to join them—and, once the dancers finish their performance, her relatives—she remains on the sidelines. Whenever she’s hit the dance floor in the past, her “feet turned into heavy clay pots,” and her “arms froze like kulfi.” Distressed, she runs to her Dadi (paternal grandmother), who encourages her to participate. Sensing Talia’s hesitation, Dadi recounts how, when she was younger, her husband—Talia’s grandfather—used to say Dadi danced like a chicken and teased her for stepping on his toes. As strange and uncoordinated as she looked, though, Dadi says that she misses the fun of bhangra; now that she uses a cane, she no longer feels comfortable dancing. Dadi’s longing for the past spurs both of them to take a big step: joining the others on the dance floor. This intergenerational tale is at once humorous, heartwarming, and inspiring. The vibrant, expressive illustrations are the perfect complement to the culturally relevant, metaphor-laden text. The intertwined themes of creative expression, risk taking, and drawing strength from our loved ones will resonate with adult and child readers alike.
A tale sure to have even the most uncertain wallflowers cutting loose on the dance floor. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9780063265028
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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
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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