A glowing window into grieving that makes room for sorrow and joy to coexist.
A child mourns while taking in the marvels of the forest and ocean.
“I wish you were here,” begins this tender story. “Together we’d smell the damp mushrooms and moss deep inside these woods.” Narrated by a child with light brown skin and chestnut hair, the tale winds through a shining meadow, a temperate rainforest, and a pebbly shoreline. Stinson focuses on the young protagonist’s sensory experiences of the land and water all around, encouraging mindfulness and connection to the present moment: tasting “the ocean salt in the breeze,” seeing “the light poking through the clouds,” hearing “pebbles saying clickety-clack,” and feeling “the tickle of the sea-foam swish up between our toes.” Teeming with the flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest, where illustrator McKibbin (Ojibwe) lives, the vivid, full-bleed digital images bring life to a text filled with heartache and reverence for nature. Stinson’s narrator doesn’t go into detail about the missing loved one, allowing readers to see their own experiences reflected in the story; this could be a tale about someone who’s moved away, died, or is otherwise no longer a part of everyday life. Radiant images and a spacious narrative provide adults with an uplifting space to discuss heavy emotions with young ones.
A glowing window into grieving that makes room for sorrow and joy to coexist. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781771649926
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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