A lovingly told exploration of compromise that leads to a new outlook on life.
Stepping outside of one’s routine brings new experiences.
An unnamed, pink-skinned human, clad in a plaid shirt and green trucker hat, and a black-and-white cat go for their usual walk. When the cat begins romping with another feline, the human decides it’s time to go. “Why are you always in charge?” asks the chagrined cat, and the human devolves into an existential crisis before coming to a decision: The next walk will be led by the cat. The following day, the human experiences life through the cat’s eyes as she chases butterflies and squirrels into a densely wooded area. The human, finding it difficult to see amid the brambles, falls off a small cliff: “I don’t want to be here anymore.” As the cat comforts her owner, the human marvels at the night sky, filled with luminous yellow stars, shown in a gatefold spread, and realizes that it’s OK to take the “usual route” but also necessary to “get lost” sometimes. Lundberg sets her story in a surreal setting that’s grounded in reality (the apartment complex echoes an M.C. Escher painting in one particularly mournful spread), and many human characters have elongated limbs. The stunning, saturated watercolor and gouache illustrations, in tandem with the thought-provoking text, translated from Swedish, chart the emotional journey of both human and cat as they discover that changing things up can result in fresh perspectives.
A lovingly told exploration of compromise that leads to a new outlook on life. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780802856333
Page Count: 66
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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