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PILLOW PLACES

Name: PILLOW PLACES
Author: Joseph Kuefler
ISBN: 978-0-06-295673-6

by Joseph Kuefler ; illustrated by Joseph Kuefler ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 8, 2021

Imagination and some comfy cushions save the day for sleepover enthusiasts everywhere.

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Sleep comes and goes, but pillows are forever.

Two kids, one presenting White and one with brown skin and dark hair, spend a sleepover together. Initially they’re not quite sure what to do, but the couch they sit on provides the perfect answer. Pillows! Soon they’re running around the home gathering a wide array, as many as they can carry. Creative use of these cushions furnishes them with pretend spaceships and planets covered in lava. With pillows they can be knights with lances or pirates fighting plaid sea monsters. But soon exhaustion seeps in, and before you know it, “Pillow starlight” gives way to “Pillow sleep.” The rhyming wordplay is kept short and simple overall (“Pillow lifting. / Pillow piling. / Pillow building. / Pillow smiling”), making the star of the show the visual representation of the kids’ fantasies. As an added bonus, every imaginary world and being in this book is entirely constructed out of pillow fabric, from the ETs to the knights’ steeds. Children will love spotting the pet cat who joins in the play with surprising enthusiasm. Sleepover first-timers are sure to find pillowy comfort here. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Imagination and some comfy cushions save the day for sleepover enthusiasts everywhere. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 8, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-295673-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE DIGGER AND THE DARK
by Joseph Kuefler ; illustrated by Joseph Kuefler

- BOOK REVIEW
THE DIGGER AND THE BUTTERFLY
by Joseph Kuefler ; illustrated by Joseph Kuefler

- BOOK REVIEW
BIGGER THAN A BUMBLEBEE
by Joseph Kuefler ; illustrated by Joseph Kuefler

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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)