There are better books out there on the sharing theme, but this one will do in a pinch.
When Ruby has something special, it’s hard for her to share.
Ruby, who appears white, likes to say “Just for me!” about all her special things: her dolly, a castle built of blocks, sprinkles on cookies, a turn at the mirror with Daddy’s shaving cream. When her brown-skinned friend arrives—“a friend just for me”—Ruby continues to smilingly declare ownership of everything. The two-wheeler and the bubbles don’t cause much trouble, but when Ruby tries to grab the tiara off her (unnamed) friend’s head, she isn’t smiling—and soon, neither is her friend. A broken tiara teaches Ruby to use the words “for me and you,” leading to “a good-bye hug just for you.” A silhouette of her parents walking with her on the last spread shows readers that her Mommy and Daddy are “just for” Ruby…but only “for now.” Visible paint strokes and strong colors make for textured and dynamic illustrations, though a too-varied color palette keeps the book from settling into a particular tone or mood. Ruby’s possessiveness will be familiar to many a toddler, and while the final image may need to be explained to younger readers, her turn-around is as instructive as it is intended to be. While Ruby’s claiming her friend as “just for [her]” is true to toddler development, that Ruby seems white and her friend appears black is quite unfortunate.
There are better books out there on the sharing theme, but this one will do in a pinch. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3527-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.
A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.
The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.
A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781665954761
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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