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THE NORTH WIND & THE SUN

Name: THE NORTH WIND & THE SUN
Author: Philip C. Stead
ISBN: 9780823455836

by Philip C. Stead ; illustrated by Philip C. Stead ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 2023

Masterfully updated and impeccably rendered.

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The North Wind and the Sun face off in a retelling of one of Aesop’s fable.

Cued by a chill in the air, three brown-skinned sisters rise from their rockers in their little house. The sisters don beautifully patched and mended woolen coats. Each sister’s coat is a primary color: yellow, blue, and red—and colored lines on their white socks match. Outside, the Sun admires the sisters’ coats “with radiant joy” while the North Wind rages at the puny garments. Both forces of nature strive to pull the coats from the sisters’ backs. As the North Wind blows, the sisters huddle together with their black dog until it subsides. The Sun’s warmth then brings wild animals out of hiding. The coats soon become repurposed as picnic blankets—a clear sign of the contest’s victor. While many artists have retold this story, Stead has created something truly special. The original fable’s solo traveler has become three sisters, demonstrating a collective strength. The sisters’ colors also each symbolize something more: joy, sadness, and trouble/strife. Stead’s beautifully textured illustrations create a strong duality between the elements, with the North Wind’s frenetic lines in stark contrast to the Sun’s serene spirals. Several page turns play with the sense of scale and encourage readers to rotate the book. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Masterfully updated and impeccably rendered. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023

ISBN: 9780823455836

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
SOMETIMES IT'S NICE TO BE ALONE
by Amy Hest ; illustrated by Philip C. Stead

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SUN IS LATE AND SO IS THE FARMER
by Philip C. Stead ; illustrated by Erin E. Stead

- BOOK REVIEW
EVERY DOG IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
by Philip C. Stead ; illustrated by Matthew Cordell

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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)