Surprisingly, a book for little ones consisting of four chapters is a developmentally appropriate winner.
In this compilation originally published as four separate books, a toddler takes readers through a first-person account of a typical day.
In four different vignettes, each with simple chapter headings (“Eating,” “Playing,” “Bathing” and “Sleeping”), a Caucasian tyke, likely male, demonstrates the activities involved in his daily routine. While the text is direct and may strike some as dry, it models talking strategies that are effective in promoting language development: “This is my cup. My cup is filled with water. Look! I am holding my cup with two hands.” The double-page spreads highlight one object on the left-hand page and place the object in a wider scene on the right with the youngster often demonstrating its use. Slegers’ brightly colored cartoons outlined in bold black lines charm, managing to be infinitely recognizable without being boring. The companion, Me and the Seasons, follows the same tot through the four seasons of the year, also working nicely as a bound quartet. The size and shape of both offerings suggest a board book, but the internal pages are thick card stock with rounded corners.
Surprisingly, a book for little ones consisting of four chapters is a developmentally appropriate winner. (Board book. 6-18 mos.)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60537-191-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
An accessible entrance into the world of social-emotional skills.
What do you do when the world turns upside down?
Freckled redhead Tilda is a happy only child with a rollicking personality. With lots of books and toys and a multiracial group of friends, life is perfect as far as she’s concerned…until her world undergoes a troubling change (a subtle hint in the illustrations suggests that Tilda’s parents have divorced). Suddenly, nothing feels right, everything seems hard, and she doesn’t want to play with her friends. To reflect this emotional disorientation, the artwork shows Tilda in spatially distorted settings, complete with upside-down objects. It’s not until she sees an upturned ladybug struggle persistently before getting back on its feet (despite Tilda’s desire to help, the ladybug needs to help itself) that Tilda gains the courage to start taking baby steps in order to cope with her new reality. There are still challenges, and she needs to persevere, but eventually, she regains her zest for life and reconnects with her friends. Despite this, the ending avoids an easy happily-ever-after, which feels just right for the subject matter. Though a trifle didactic, the story sends an important message about the roles of self-efficacy and persistence when it comes to overcoming challenges and building resilience. Percival’s digital illustrations use transitions from grayscale to color to create symbolic meaning and have psychological depth, deftly capturing a child’s experience of trauma.
An accessible entrance into the world of social-emotional skills. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0822-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder.
After being home-schooled for years, Auggie Pullman is about to start fifth grade, but he’s worried: How will he fit into middle school life when he looks so different from everyone else?
Auggie has had 27 surgeries to correct facial anomalies he was born with, but he still has a face that has earned him such cruel nicknames as Freak, Freddy Krueger, Gross-out and Lizard face. Though “his features look like they’ve been melted, like the drippings on a candle” and he’s used to people averting their eyes when they see him, he’s an engaging boy who feels pretty ordinary inside. He’s smart, funny, kind and brave, but his father says that having Auggie attend Beecher Prep would be like sending “a lamb to the slaughter.” Palacio divides the novel into eight parts, interspersing Auggie’s first-person narrative with the voices of family members and classmates, wisely expanding the story beyond Auggie’s viewpoint and demonstrating that Auggie’s arrival at school doesn’t test only him, it affects everyone in the community. Auggie may be finding his place in the world, but that world must find a way to make room for him, too.
A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder. (Fiction. 8-14)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86902-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2011
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