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THE BIRTHDAY OF THE WORLD

Name: THE BIRTHDAY OF THE WORLD
Author: Rachel Naomi Remen
ISBN: 978-1-951836-34-4

A STORY ABOUT FINDING LIGHT IN EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING

by Rachel Naomi Remen ; illustrated by Rachell Sumpter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 2022

This visually stirring but heavy-handed attempt to teach children empathy and awareness falls flat.

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On a child’s fourth birthday, their favorite person in the world, their grandfather, tells them what happened when the world was born.

As the grandfather tells the story, a page turn takes readers from a mainly dark page with a picture of a birthday cake to a stunning kaleidoscope of color. “A great ray of light” brings darkness to an end, and sparks fall into the world and into everything in it. A multicolored spread showing a diverse collection of living beings, each with their own spark, conveys the grandfather’s story in dazzling colors and engaging details. Unfortunately, the text does not have the same charm. The phrasing doesn’t flow; rather, beings are listed: boys, girls, dogs, rabbits, plants, trees, etc. The grandfather then explains that these sparks are still within us, but “We can’t see them with our eyes / We can only see them with our hearts”—a line that feels too similar to the famous quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince (1943). Though the painterly images are beautiful, making stunning use of color and light, the text is preachy as it details what people can do to make their sparks and the sparks of others shine more brightly. The child and their grandfather are light-skinned and cued Jewish; other characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

This visually stirring but heavy-handed attempt to teach children empathy and awareness falls flat. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-951836-34-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Cameron Kids

Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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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)