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LET'S GO ABC!

Name: LET'S GO ABC!
Author: Rhonda Gowler Greene
ISBN: 978-0-8027-3509-6

THINGS THAT GO, FROM A TO Z

by Rhonda Gowler Greene ; illustrated by Daniel Kirk ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2018

There are lots of vehicle-themed alphabet books, but very few are as all-inclusive as this one is. Despite the one flaw,...

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Here’s another ABC devoted to “Things That Go.”

What gives this transportation alphabet a leg up are the animal characters that act out the scenes. Many of the vehicles that represent the letters are familiar, such as an airplane, a bus, a helicopter, a Jeep, and a limo. Others are more unexpected: dog sled, gondola, “EMS Truck,” quad bike, unicycle, “eXpress Train,” and zeppelin. The rhythmic, rhyming text is related in first-person voice by each of the vehicles highlighted, while a cast of (mostly) animals rides along. Though not a seek-and-find book, per se, details add additional items coordinated to the letters to look for. A parrot drives a police car as a panda holds a pencil and a pad of paper, for example. On the spread featuring the letters M and N, a mustachioed (and helmeted) mouse rides a motorcycle with a map sticking out of its back pocket, while a narwhal, newt, and, possibly, nuthatch ride a narrowboat. (Unfortunately, there is no legend in the back to identify objects and characters, so the little brown bird in the narrowboat may have caregivers looking through their field guides or just giving up.) It’s the interactions among the cast of animals that generate the fun in the full-spread illustrations.

There are lots of vehicle-themed alphabet books, but very few are as all-inclusive as this one is. Despite the one flaw, this book soars. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: May 15, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-8027-3509-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
SUPERGRAN!
by Rhonda Gowler Greene ; illustrated by Lee Cosgrove

- BOOK REVIEW
THIS MAGICAL, MUSICAL NIGHT
by Rhonda Gowler Greene ; illustrated by James Rey Sanchez

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FIRST MEN WHO WENT TO THE MOON
by Rhonda Gowler Greene ; illustrated by Scott Brundage

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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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THE CRAYONS GO BACK TO SCHOOL

by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2023

Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.

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The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.

Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)