A bracing celebration of creativity with a strong main character who deserves her own series.
An exuberant little girl who fancies pots meets a new babysitter in this debut chapter book.
May adores a lot of things: karate, boxing, her stuffed blue bunny named Sunshine, and conversations with her mother. But one of her loves is a bit more surprising: playing with pots (“Her favorites were those that fit on her head”). While other toys get boring, May can embark on endless adventures with these versatile kitchen tools. When Miss Josephine, the new sitter, comes to watch May for the first time, the girl feels afraid. But between the woman’s purple bag—full of fun games and toys that “make you think”—and Miss Josephine’s comforting words and hug when the girl expects to get scolded, May finds a new friend and discovers that using her imagination can help her become smarter. Seay’s delightful computer illustrations frequently use neutral backgrounds, which cause the colorful pots and May’s bright clothes to stand out. The all-black cast is headed by May, a charming youngster (likely between the ages of 4 and 6) with curly dark hair, whose facial expressions communicate a wide range of emotions within the work’s artistic style. The approachable vocabulary and early-chapter-book format—with images on every page—make this an accessible and appealing story for young readers, especially those who have struggled with their own fears of being left with strangers.
A bracing celebration of creativity with a strong main character who deserves her own series.Pub Date: April 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9985576-0-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: PicBooks Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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