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THIS IS A MOMENT

Name: THIS IS A MOMENT
Author: Micah Player
ISBN: 9780593695937

by Micah Player ; illustrated by Micah Player ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

Moments sharing this lovely book with children will be time very well spent.

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Hold on to precious moments.

This mindfulness stuff can seem breathless and heady. Youngsters may not get the concept, at least not right away. They have to feel it, live it, and certainly be encouraged in the undertaking by their special grown-ups. Player focuses on ways to live in the moment and relish the here and now. “It’s a SONG and how YOU hear it. It’s a SUNNY DAY and how YOU feel it.” The author/illustrator turns philosophical at times: “A MOMENT is made when everything that came BEFORE meets what is happening NOW.” The cheery digital illustrations effectively express these big ideas and will help readers grasp them, relying on saturated colors and dramatic use of perspective to convey young people experiencing “crowded moments,” “peaceful moments,” and “moments when YOU feel SMALL.” Much of the simple, understated text is set in capital letters, emphasizing that these concepts deal in big ideas and weighty sentiments. Adults reading this volume aloud should encourage children to discuss their own special moments and help them understand that all moments are significant—and so are young people themselves. Characters are diverse in terms of race and ability.

Moments sharing this lovely book with children will be time very well spent. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780593695937

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ITTY BITTY BETTY BLOB
by Constance Lombardo ; illustrated by Micah Player

- BOOK REVIEW
LA GUITARRISTA
by Lucky Diaz ; illustrated by Micah Player

- BOOK REVIEW
STOP AND SMELL THE COOKIES
by Gibson Frazier ; illustrated by Micah Player

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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)