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THE WILD GUIDE TO STARTING SCHOOL

Name: THE WILD GUIDE TO STARTING SCHOOL
Author: Laura Bunting
ISBN: 9781684646081

by Laura Bunting ; illustrated by Philip Bunting ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2023

Nifty design and good intentions but a likely misfire with intended readers.

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Australian Outback animals help kids figure out what to expect on the first day of school.

Step by numbered step this handbook shows what to do—and some wild don’ts—for school newbies. Eat “a healthy, filling breakfast appropriate to your species.” Some of the don’ts may inadvertently give kids ideas (like using sticky tape to “turn…your teacher into a sticky, grumpy mummy”). Who, exactly, is the target audience for this book? A child starting kindergarten—much less preschool—will likely be stymied by a diagram of a teacher’s brain (labels include “prefrontal patience cortex,” “colossal kindness cortex,” and “wisdom ventricle”). Nor will a homesick child be able to decipher the doughnuts that use color-coding to convey various animals’ mixed feelings on the first day or the Venn diagrams depicting the qualities of teachers. Anyone familiar with graphs and diagrams doesn’t need techniques to avoid drop-off sadness or to be reminded not to poop on the blocks or on the teacher, cut their hair with scissors, or eat the crayons. Adult-reader entertainment can be a good add-on, but here it gets in the way of the main event. The pale, soft-edge pastels, in the style of the artwork in the Buntings’ Another Book About Bears (2020), are static but beautifully laid out, especially on the endpapers. The animals are anthropomorphized, though not one of these dazed-looking creatures ever smiles. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Nifty design and good intentions but a likely misfire with intended readers. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023

ISBN: 9781684646081

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Kane Miller

Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT BEARS.
by Laura Bunting ; illustrated by Philip Bunting

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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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)