DON'T CROSS THE LINE!

Name: DON'T CROSS THE LINE!
Author: Isabel Minhós Martins
ISBN: 978-1-776570-74-4

by Isabel Minhós Martins ; illustrated by Bernardo P. Carvalho ; translated by Daniel Hahn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2016

The takeaway is an important one: peaceful questioning of authority can lead to quiet revolution.

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An armed guard stands in the gutter of the book, refusing passage to the other side no matter how much the growing crowd pleads.

The story opens to a vast, blank, double-page spread, except for a lone, white guard and a tiny dog. A page turn reveals a white person walking into view from the left. As that person attempts to enter the recto page, the guard yells a ferocious “STOP!” When pressed for a reason, the guard simply says, “My general reserves the right to keep the page blank, so he can join the story whenever he feels like it.” More people (and creatures) come as the pages turn, until the left-hand side is packed. When a red ball innocently bounces across the border, everyone freezes. The guard allows two children to retrieve the ball, and suddenly the floodgates open. The crowd swarms across. When Gen. Alcazar sees the disobeying mob, he tries to arrest the guard, but the crowd overthrows him. This abstract tale can be read many ways. A musing on order versus disorder, tyranny and revolution, or perhaps the most prevalent of late—immigration. Childlike illustrations in colorful marker and comical hidden identities (a certain extraterrestrial really wants to cross to make a phone call) lighten the tone. The endpapers show the entire cast of characters (the humans mostly white), which adds an element of seek-and-find as well.

The takeaway is an important one: peaceful questioning of authority can lead to quiet revolution. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-776570-74-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Gecko Press

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
PLASTICUS MARITIMUS
by Ana Pêgo & Isabel Minhós Martins ; illustrated by Bernado P. Carvalho ; translated by Jane Springer

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT'S THAT NOISE?
by Isabel Minhós Martins ; illustrated by Madalena Matoso

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WORLD IN A SECOND
by Isabel Minhós Martins ; illustrated by Bernardo P. Carvalho ; translated by Lyn Miller-Lachmann

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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)