by Nelly Buchet ; illustrated by Andrea Zuill ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 9, 2023
Models a less than ideal example of friendship.
Sharing her pet stone threatens Otter’s one friendship.
Otter naps clutching Rock to her chest, dresses Rock in seaweed clothing and accessories, and bathes the stone “until Rock sparkles.” Before sleep she “whispers her dreams to Rock. Things that make her happy, or sad, or somewhere in between.” Conveniently (and authentically, for otters), she has an armpit “pocket” where she can tuck Rock. Rock is stolidly passive: Whatever Otter does, “Rock doesn’t mind.” When Manatee asks to play with Otter and Rock, Otter is uncertain but, offered a seagrass accessory for Rock, Otter “can’t say no to a present.” Quiet play suddenly becomes sea-baseball, and Otter’s vigorous thwack sends Rock over Manatee’s head and into the deep. Otter instantly regrets sharing, and though she was the gift-bribed one who let Manatee play and the one who shot Rock into the air, she unreasonably refuses to talk or listen to her friend. Manatee goes to great lengths searching for Rock and, with others’ help, finds Otter’s beloved pal—at which point Otter just resumes playing with her, and “sometimes, they share Rock with others.” If you don’t expect remorse, reflection, or change on Otter’s part, this is a happy ending. Zuill’s pen-and-color style is similar to but somewhat less quirky than the illustrations in Wolf Camp (2016). The two big-eyed animals are slightly anthropomorphized, but several other sea creatures are not. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Models a less than ideal example of friendship. (facts on manatees and otters) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9781454944522
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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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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