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THE FAIREST IN THE LAND

Name: THE FAIREST IN THE LAND
Author: Lesléa Newman
ISBN: 9781419757099

by Lesléa Newman ; illustrated by Joshua Heinsz ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023

A pink and purple sparkling celebration of self-expression.

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Annabelle and Benjamin love playing dress-up, but they both want to be the princess.

Benjamin, a light-skinned child with blond hair, always wants to be the bride, ballerina, or princess. His friend Annabelle, who has brown skin and dark brown hair, dutifully dons groom and prince costumes, but she wants to be the princess herself. Benjamin doesn’t want to give up his role, but luckily, it turns out there can be more than one princess. The story is told in rhyming verse that gives it a fairy-tale or nursery-rhyme feel, with artwork dominated by twinkling stars and hues of pink and purple. There have been a number of picture books that have told boys it’s OK to wear dresses, but this one handles the topic of gender expression with particular nuance and care. Young readers are most likely to notice the messages that sharing and taking turns are important. Yet without directly saying it, Newman also makes clear that it’s perfectly fine to be either gender-conforming or gender-nonconforming. The characters’ decision to play as two princesses without a prince distances them from the heteronormative romance narrative that can underlie even gender-nonconforming play. With the appearance of additional, racially diverse friends of varying gender expressions at the end, the book encourages readers to embrace themselves, no matter what that looks like. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A pink and purple sparkling celebration of self-expression. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 2, 2023

ISBN: 9781419757099

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Abrams

Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
JOYFUL SONG
by Lesléa Newman ; illustrated by Susan Gal

- BOOK REVIEW
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
by Lesléa Newman ; illustrated by AG Ford

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BABKA SISTERS
by Lesléa Newman ; illustrated by Tata Bobokhidze & Tika Bobokhidze

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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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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)