A transcendent journey for families seeking affirming representations of those who march to their own beats.
In this allegory celebrating individuality, Elbert finds true acceptance, aided by his loving mother.
After birth, Elbert begins to float, literally rising as he grows. His mother clambers ever higher to provide unconditional support: “If Elbert was born to float, I will let him.” Cavorting in the air, first among his toys and then above his yard, Elbert discovers despondency at 6: “Even on my birthday…no one else is up here.” At school, he deftly catches “the highest balls” and finds creative ways to play tag with his classmates at recess. Ma continues to reassure as Elbert’s increasing altitude literally puts classmates out of reach. “Just be yourself…and you’ll find friends.” She encourages him to make wishes—on birthday candles, on a shooting star—which symbolize the family’s commitment to Elbert’s existential quest. Wesolowska employs the Euro-folkloric motif of threes: At three stages in Elbert’s coming-of-age odyssey, a trio of naysayers offer feckless, often chilling advice designed to hobble him. But “Elbert was Elbert. No hook, no anchor, no law could bring him down!” Finally, Elbert finds “the world he’d always wished for!” Textured, gracefully composed digital art depicts Ma and Elbert enjoying a sky-high picnic among a group of the boy’s happily engaged peers; images that evoke Elbert’s toy blocks surround them. Both Elbert and his mother have brown skin and black textured hair, among diverse communities aloft and below. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A transcendent journey for families seeking affirming representations of those who march to their own beats. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-32520-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
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)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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