by Michelle Garcia Andersen ; illustrated by Ayesha L. Rubio ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 2, 2021
An amusing lesson in the importance of asking the right questions.
Ridiculed by their peers, a young owl and a young wolf run away.
When Little Owl asks her mother, “WHY don’t all animals stay awake at night,” Mama Owl tells her, “Owls don’t ask WHY….Owls ask WHO.” Little Owl persistently asks, “WHY” until the other owls laugh at her. Meanwhile, Little Wolf asks his father, “WHEN will I be able to explore on my own,” and Papa Wolf cautions him, “Wolves don’t ask WHEN….Wolves ask HOW.” Undeterred, Little Wolf keeps asking, “WHEN” until he’s mocked by the other wolves. Convinced no one understands them, Little Owl and Little Wolf flee together, seeking freedom to ask whatever they want. All night long, Little Owl leads the way with Little Wolf following until they realize they’re lost and ready to go home. If only they had “asked the same questions as everyone else,” Little Wolf says ruefully. Now the only way they will get home is by asking more questions. Repetitive use of who, what, why, when, where, and how, printed in bold capital letters, reinforces the interrogatory theme. With their simple shapes and expressive faces, Little Owl and Little Wolf stand out against the moonlit woodland backgrounds on their dramatic home-away-home adventure. It unfolds in small cameos as well as single- and double-page spreads, with close-up, aerial, and wide-angle views adding varied perspectives.
An amusing lesson in the importance of asking the right questions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64567-153-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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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...
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
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