THE FIRST SLODGE

Name: THE FIRST SLODGE
Author: Jeanne Willis
ISBN: 978-1-58925-169-4

by Jeanne Willis ; illustrated by Jenni Desmond ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2015

From the primordial ooze to the red fruit, the illustrations serve to reinforce the Adam and Eve metaphor, and the whole...

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The prolific Willis’ offbeat fable of cooperation and sharing features a solitary green, bipedal, two-armed, sluglike being called a Slodge.

The Slodge’s sleepy, squelchy progress out of a slime pit is followed by yawns, scratches and a proprietary survey of the unpopulated landscape. The self-satisfied Slodge gambols about, laying claim to everything from the sunrise to the fruit trees. “Mine, all mine!” All is good until another Slodge, a male, appears on the second day (of creation?). Escalating from a possessive-pronoun throwdown, the first fight erupts. Armageddon appears imminent until a jaundiced, toothy, seagoing Snawk has the temerity to target the first Slodge as she plunges into its domain. The boy Slodge saves the day with a battle cry of “That’s my Slodge!” Desmond’s primarily blue- and green-hued digital mixed-media art (collage, paint and colored pencil) populates the world with myriad fantastical creatures once peace is declared. “The world didn’t belong to anyone. / It belonged to everyone. / It was there to share.” The Slodges unite in an accelerated and, one assumes, successful friendship, because one page-turn later, there are suddenly 72 romping children and more on the way.

From the primordial ooze to the red fruit, the illustrations serve to reinforce the Adam and Eve metaphor, and the whole thing may leave readers rooting for the serpentlike Snawk . (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-58925-169-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tiger Tales

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
WHAT ARE LITTLE GIRLS MADE OF?
by Jeanne Willis ; illustrated by Isabelle Follath

- BOOK REVIEW
OLD MACDONALD HAD A PHONE
by Jeanne Willis ; illustrated by Tony Ross

- BOOK REVIEW
DON'T GO THERE!
by Jeanne Willis ; illustrated by Hrefna Bragadottir

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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)