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LEILONG THE LIBRARY BUS

Name: LEILONG THE LIBRARY BUS
Author: Julia Liu
ISBN: 978-1-776573-31-8

by Julia Liu ; illustrated by Bei Lynn ; translated by Helen Wang ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 3, 2021

Yay for Leilong.

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Sauropod Leilong loves books and stories, especially about dinosaurs.

Leilong and his friends Maggie, Mo, and Max are headed to the library for storytime, traveling on Leilong’s very large back. There are hints that dinosaurs are not entirely unusual in this city. There is a refueling station that’s specifically for dinosaurs. When he moves too fast, police warn him to slow down. But Leilong is denied entrance to the library because he cannot fit through the door and doesn’t have a library card. So he pokes his head in a window to hear the story. The children enjoy “Little Red Riding Hood,” shouting responses as the librarian reads. Leilong becomes so involved that his shouts shake the entire building, and he is banished for breaking the rules. When all the children leave with him in solidarity, the librarians reconsider and come up with an ingenious plan to share books with everyone. Text and illustrations are perfectly matched here. Via Wang’s smooth translation from Chinese, Liu employs simple, direct third-person narration, enhanced by intriguing dialogue and winning characters. Lynn’s intricate cartoons provide scope and setting and much of the fun as well as thought-provoking details. Humans all have pale skin, and Leilong is gloriously green. Leilong is met variously with laughter, amazement, and quite a few frowns, and the initial reactions at the library indicate that sauropods are not always welcome. Young readers will come to understand an underlying gentle message of recognizing and embracing differences.

Yay for Leilong. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-776573-31-8

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Gecko Press

Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S DINOSAURS & PREHISTORIC CREATURES | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
GUS, THE DINOSAUR BUS
by Julia Liu ; illustrated by Bei Lynn

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GOOD NIGHT THOUGHTS

by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by James Serafino ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2024

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers.

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Actor and author Greenfield’s latest picture book follows a child kept awake by anxieties.

The pajama-clad narrator huddles in bed among the blue shadows of a bedroom at night. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m afraid of all the scary stuff I see.” Bright, candy-hued clouds of cartoon images surround the child, lively, disruptive depictions of the what-ifs and exaggerated disasters that crowd out sleep: war (we see the world pop “into a piece of popcorn”), kidnapping (pirates carry away the child’s teddy bear), falling “up” into the sun, tarantulas in the toilet, and a menacing-looking dentist. These outsize insomnia inducers may help readers put their own unvoiced concerns into perspective; after all, what frightens one person might seem silly but understandable to another. Our narrator tries to replace the unsettling thoughts with happy ones—hugging a baby panda, being serenaded by a choir of doughnuts, and “all the people who love me holding hands and wearing every piece of clothing that they own.” But sleep is still elusive. Finally, remembering that there’s a difference between reality and an overactive imagination, the child relaxes a bit: “Right now, everything is okay. And so am I.” Reassuring, though not exactly sedate, this tale will spark daytime discussions about how difficult it can be to quiet unsettling thoughts. The child has dark hair and blue-tinged skin, reflecting the darkness of the bedroom.

Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024

ISBN: 9780593697894

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 31, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
I DON'T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK ALOUD
by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

- BOOK REVIEW
THIS BOOK IS NOT A PRESENT
by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

- BOOK REVIEW
I DON'T WANT TO READ THIS BOOK
by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by Mike Lowery

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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)