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HENRY AND THE SOMETHING NEW

Name: HENRY AND THE SOMETHING NEW
Author: Jenn Bailey
ISBN: 9781797213903

by Jenn Bailey ; illustrated by Mika Song ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2024

A simple but engaging slice-of-life story.

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Henry is excited—and a bit worried—about Classroom Ten’s trip to the museum.

Henry, a young boy coded as neurodivergent, has never been to the museum, but it has dinosaurs, which he loves. His teacher gives the class three rules. First, stay with their adult field trip helper. Second, return to the bus by three o’clock. Third— But just as she’s telling them the third rule, the bus pulls up, and Henry doesn’t hear what she says. At the museum, Henry’s assigned parent helper asks his group of three students what they want to see. One student says “moon rocks,” so it’s off to the Rock Room. The other student says “bugs,” so that’s their next stop. Henry wants to say “dinosaurs,” but the word keeps getting stuck in his throat. Finally, Henry shouts his request. The group searches but instead finds a bone room with a friendly scientist, who, after letting them take part in a mini-dig, leads them to the huge dinosaur room. Back on the bus, Henry’s friend asks if he followed the third rule and found something new; after some thought, Henry realizes that he has. This quiet but perceptive tale follows young Henry as he discovers the world at his own pace and reacts in his own, charming way (in the dinosaur room, Henry wraps his arms around himself so all the “happy” doesn’t “slip away”). Interspersed throughout are graceful watercolor-and-ink illustrations, mostly black and white, with pops of green. Henry is cued Asian; his class is diverse.

A simple but engaging slice-of-life story. (Early chapter book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 19, 2024

ISBN: 9781797213903

Page Count: 56

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE TWELVE HOURS OF CHRISTMAS
by Jenn Bailey ; illustrated by Bea Jackson

- BOOK REVIEW
HENRY, LIKE ALWAYS
by Jenn Bailey ; illustrated by Mika Song

- BOOK REVIEW
MEOWSTERPIECES
by Jenn Bailey ; illustrated by Nyangsongi

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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)