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THE WALL

Name: THE WALL
Author: Jessie James
ISBN: 978-1-913639-39-6

by Jessie James ; illustrated by Catalina Echeverri ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 5, 2021

Timely, aspirational, affirming.

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The “world is a beautiful place” to Tom, who wants to be a “great explorer and see it all”—until his grandmother warns him that “the world is not safe."

Afraid when he hears grown-ups, TV, and newspapers talk about bad “monsters” from other parts of the world coming closer, Tom stops exploring. The grown-ups build a high, long wall to keep the monsters out. Feeling safer, Tom forgets all about exploring. But one day he receives a friendly message from across the wall and decides to climb over. Tom sees no monsters, just beautiful grasses, flowers, mountains, birds, animals, trees—and a little girl waving. The girl returns with Tom to his side of the wall. Listening to the girl talk about her home and people convinces those who built the wall to tear it down, and Tom starts exploring again. This simple story quietly reveals the insidious impact of xenophobic isolationism and offers a hopeful message. Whimsical, delicate illustrations cleverly utilize color to track Tom’s journey from joyful boy eagerly exploring his colorful world to fearful child sadly watching TV. Color gradually disappears from the illustrations as the wall rises, leaving a beige world. But when Tom scales the wall, he discovers the world awash in brilliant color, which seeps back into the illustrations as the wall falls. Though Tom presents White and the little girl Black, importantly, Tom’s community’s grown-ups are racially diverse, saving the narrative from reductive racialization.

Timely, aspirational, affirming. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-913639-39-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: New Frontier Publishing

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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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)