EVERY COWGIRL GOES TO SCHOOL

Name: EVERY COWGIRL GOES TO SCHOOL
Author: Rebecca Janni
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3937-6

by Rebecca Janni ; illustrated by Lynne Avril ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 27, 2013

Girls having friendship troubles may not find the solutions they seek here, but Nellie Sue does have a can-do attitude that...

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It is easy to misconstrue everything that happens on a not-so-good first day of school when a new girl upsets the balance between two friends.

Cowgirl Nellie Sue is excited about the brand-new day of school ahead of her. But starting with the bus ride, her day goes downhill. Her friend Anna is sitting (and talking!) with some other girl. And Anna and the straight-laced Maya seem to be best buds all day long—from their seats next to each other and their giggling and whispering to Maya’s stepping on Nellie Sue’s shoelace and causing her to fall—leaving poor Nellie Sue to feel left out. When Maya’s attempt to reach out to Nellie Sue backfires, Maya then seeks her out, and the two immediately become fast friends. While the girls’ detente is way too easy and somewhat unrealistic, Nellie Sue’s spirit and determination remain consistent with her previous outings, and her message is an important one: “It was a brand-new day, and I decided it would go just my way.” Avril’s watercolor and gouache illustrations capture the girls’ emotions, and she nicely shows the three friends’ different personalities through their clothing choices, hairstyles and the five things they have added to their “all-about-me” bags.

Girls having friendship troubles may not find the solutions they seek here, but Nellie Sue does have a can-do attitude that will resonate with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 27, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-8037-3937-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 7, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
EVERY COWGIRL LOVES A RODEO
by Rebecca Janni & illustrated by Lynne Avril

- BOOK REVIEW
JAMMY DANCE
by Rebecca Janni & illustrated by Tracy Dockray

- BOOK REVIEW
EVERY COWGIRL NEEDS DANCING BOOTS
by Rebecca Janni & illustrated by Lynne Avril

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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)