Sea Monster keeps delivering important messages in fun ways. What issue will he tackle next? (Picture book. 4-7)
Sea Monster’s second outing finds him with his first-day resourcefulness intact (Sea Monster’s First Day, 2011).
When Sea Monster learns of a new student in his class, he goes out of his way to be kind to him. But instead of cowering and being shy, as Sea Monster did on his first day, the new fish is something of a braggart, always comparing (negatively) his old school with this new one. He also turns out to be quite bossy, selfish and unkind. On his second day, he starts the Fresh Fish Club (he’s president, of course) for all the cool fish, passing out sunglasses for the members. Sea Monster is quite pleased with his new shades…until he sees that not everyone is wearing them. “Suddenly, my cool new shades felt heavy on my snout.” He ponders a way to include everyone, and the Friend Fish club is started. The members wear buttons and do good deeds for one another. Proving his worth as a diplomat, Sea Monster kindly deflects the new fish’s declaration that he’ll be president, asking the newcomer to instead use his drumming talent for the good of all. The tale ends with a rhyming song about the new club and their friendly mission. Rash’s artwork is a hoot, filled with humorous and hidden details (don’t miss the book titles in the library).
Sea Monster keeps delivering important messages in fun ways. What issue will he tackle next? (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4521-1253-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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