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WE ARE GOING TO BE PALS!

Name: WE ARE GOING TO BE PALS!
Author: Mark Teague
ISBN: 9781665911863

by Mark Teague ; illustrated by Mark Teague ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 6, 2023

A bit of a miss for an accomplished author/illustrator.

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Egret and Rhino need each other, but will they really be pals?

When an egret lands on a rhino, the egret is certain they will be friends. The rhino is noncommittal. Egret says they’ll have a symbiotic relationship (“It means…We are going to be pals!”). “Perhaps you are thinking, ‘I am not the friendly type,’ ” says the egret. “I understand. I will teach you.” The talkative egret starts suggesting things they can do together. Chase the jackals? Rhino doesn’t seem inclined. Eat grasshoppers? Rhino’s not interested. A ride on the rhino’s horn? The rhino really doesn’t like that, and the egret says that’s a teachable moment about recognizing boundaries. The rhino goes about their day as the egret keeps proposing activities. When the two each enjoy some alone time, the egret gets stuck in quicksand, and the rhino comes to their aid. With the egret safe, the friendship (such as it is) continues. The egret’s loquacious lesson in friendship includes some large words that may take some explaining, and their barrage of bad animal puns will be lost on the youngest listeners. Teague’s acrylic illustrations are as beautiful as ever, but the egret’s nonstop blather verges on bullying. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A bit of a miss for an accomplished author/illustrator. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 6, 2023

ISBN: 9781665911863

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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YOU ARE NOT SLEEPY!
by Mark Teague ; illustrated by Mark Teague

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HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY TRICK OR TREAT?
by Jane Yolen ; illustrated by Mark Teague

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VACATION
by Ame Dyckman ; illustrated by Mark Teague

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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)