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THE GIRL WHO SPOKE TO THE MOON

Name: THE GIRL WHO SPOKE TO THE MOON
Author: Land Wilson
ISBN: 978-1-4926-9873-9

by Land Wilson ; illustrated by Sue Cornelison ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2020

Young activist dreamers will appreciate the new perspective and environmental call to action.

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A new perspective can sometimes work wonders.

Awakened one night by a noise, Sofia finds her gaze following a beam of light to the Moon’s winking eye, and they chat. “From this night on, a friendship grew / into a bond both strong and true.” Later, Sofia, presented with a light complexion and dark hair and eyes, notices the Moon is sad and wants to help. She follows the Moon’s suggestion and visits the Moon in a dream. As Sofia looks from the Moon toward Earth, Moon explains that Mother Earth is her “closest relative,” but Earth’s “people seem so unaware / that what Earth needs is better care.” Moon suggests simple things everyone can do to take care of Mother Earth, and Sofia makes “a pledge of things to do / like passing on these words to you.” While the often forced rhyme is light on specifics, backmatter defines air, land, and water pollution, then presents a bulleted list of everyday activities that can help keep “Earth clean and healthy.” Sidebars in the backmatter include insightful reflections from male and female astronauts who witnessed planet Earth from space. Realistic illustrations mostly in neutral creams and grays capture the “pearl” and “opal glow” of Sofia’s moon but may not capture the attention of young readers.

Young activist dreamers will appreciate the new perspective and environmental call to action. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-4926-9873-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Little Pickle Press

Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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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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TINY T. REX AND THE IMPOSSIBLE HUG

by Jonathan Stutzman ; illustrated by Jay Fleck ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2019

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back.

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With such short arms, how can Tiny T. Rex give a sad friend a hug?

Fleck goes for cute in the simple, minimally detailed illustrations, drawing the diminutive theropod with a chubby turquoise body and little nubs for limbs under a massive, squared-off head. Impelled by the sight of stegosaurian buddy Pointy looking glum, little Tiny sets out to attempt the seemingly impossible, a comforting hug. Having made the rounds seeking advice—the dino’s pea-green dad recommends math; purple, New Age aunt offers cucumber juice (“That is disgusting”); red mom tells him that it’s OK not to be able to hug (“You are tiny, but your heart is big!”), and blue and yellow older sibs suggest practice—Tiny takes up the last as the most immediately useful notion. Unfortunately, the “tree” the little reptile tries to hug turns out to be a pterodactyl’s leg. “Now I am falling,” Tiny notes in the consistently self-referential narrative. “I should not have let go.” Fortunately, Tiny lands on Pointy’s head, and the proclamation that though Rexes’ hugs may be tiny, “I will do my very best because you are my very best friend” proves just the mood-lightening ticket. “Thank you, Tiny. That was the biggest hug ever.” Young audiences always find the “clueless grown-ups” trope a knee-slapper, the overall tone never turns preachy, and Tiny’s instinctive kindness definitely puts him at (gentle) odds with the dinky dino star of Bob Shea’s Dinosaur Vs. series.

Wins for compassion and for the refusal to let physical limitations hold one back. (Picture book. 5-7)