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HELLO WORLD!

Name: HELLO WORLD!
Author: Kelly Corrigan
ISBN: 978-0-593-20606-5

by Kelly Corrigan ; illustrated by Stacy Ebert ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 6, 2021

Less Oh, the Places You’ll Go and more “Oh, the people you will know.”

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Cultivate interest not simply in the world, but also in the people who inhabit it.

Behind the facade of yet another picture book to hand to graduates lies a title with grander ambitions. A kid scooters off into the world to text that relates the wonders to come. Using the letter B (for no apparent reason) as a touchstone, the text catalogs everything from bobsledding to boredom. This is all well and good, but the true treasures come when one realizes, “There’s more to everyone than you think.” Readers are encouraged not merely to look and draw assumptions, but to ask people questions to learn more. Characters introduced early appear later with some context. A bicycling ballerina “misses her grandpa Benny,” and “the bully was bullied” (a sign held by a disembodied hand reads, “That’s how he learned to do it”). Even the endpapers get into the act, featuring balloons that sport questions like “What makes someone smart?” and “What’s the best gift you ever got?” This emphasis on humanity separates this title from books that offer empty aphorisms about getting through life. Meanwhile, the cheery art displays a Seussian sensibility but populates its hopeful world with lots of different kinds of people. The brown-skinned protagonist appears to be biracial, with a White-presenting mom and darker-brown-skinned dad who bid their offspring farewell on the first page. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.3-by-20.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 26% of actual size.)

Less Oh, the Places You’ll Go and more “Oh, the people you will know.” (Picture books. 4-18)

Pub Date: April 6, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-20606-5

Page Count: 44

Publisher: Flamingo Books

Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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WHY A DAUGHTER NEEDS A MOM

by Gregory R. Lange ; illustrated by Sydney Hanson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2019

New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.

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All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.

Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.

New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)

Pub Date: May 1, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

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Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)