Tender and reassuring and just right for bedtime.
Although she’s never before been away from home by herself, Amy bravely declares her intention of spending three nights at Grandma’s house.
She packs necessities, secretly adding “three best things.” Each day passes in a variety of enjoyable pursuits. She and Grandma examine an old toy cupboard, have a picnic in the park, bake a cake and plan a day at a fair when her mother comes. But each night, after falling asleep for a short time, Amy awakens feeling sad and homesick. Now it is time for those secret things. The first night, a striped mat from her bedroom magically flies her home to see that all is well, followed by a toy horse on the second night. But on the third night, after soaring through the sky on her toy bathtub boat, she finds the house empty. Frightened tears flow, but her mother has come a day early, and all is joyful. Pearce makes it all seem perfectly plausible. The tale is told in soft-spoken conversational tones whether describing day or night, reality or magic. Young readers will certainly identify with Amy’s concerns and applaud her ingenious and imaginative way of coping. Craig’s lovely pencil-and-watercolor illustrations match the tone beautifully with scenes of happy daytime activities and pajama-clad magical night journeys.
Tender and reassuring and just right for bedtime. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6314-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
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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