Sure to help kids conquer first-day-of-school fears.
Childhood anxieties are tamed with the help of a loving adult and coping methods.
Isla remembers a time when her biggest problems would melt away with a snuggle from Mami. Now, as she faces her first day of school, her mind is swirling with nonstop worries and what-ifs. Isla shares her fears with Mami, who talks her through a visualization exercise involving putting her worries in an imaginary balloon and letting it float away. As Isla and Mami walk to school, Isla focuses on her breathing and the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of her neighborhood. When they reach school and Isla’s anxiety surges, Mami reminds Isla to “try picturing what you want to see happen” and to “try making it something happy,” which helps her transition into the school day. While Isla’s worries haven’t disappeared for good, they have quieted thanks to positive self-talk and other strategies she’s practiced with Mami. Inviting illustrations include powerful visual representations of what it feels like to be frozen in fear—tree roots extending from Isla’s feet as she feels literally anchored to the ground; her legs stuck in quicksand—in addition to cheerful, reassuring scenes. Anxious readers will recognize themselves in Isla’s struggle and perhaps learn a new way of approaching their fears. Isla and her mom are Latine, with brown skin and wavy brown hair. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sure to help kids conquer first-day-of-school fears. (tips for “building your worry tool bag,” author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781250852939
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...
Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.
The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.
While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Mackinac Island Press
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
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