A brief but useful reminder to be kind.
Triplets are reminded of a valuable lesson when a new student joins their class in Cotty and Ipsan’s picture book.
Nina, Nancy, and NoNo may be triplets, but they’re certainly not all the same. One day, the sisters, who all have pale skin, hop on the bus to their first grade classroom, excited at the prospect of a new student joining their cohort. NoNo is apprehensive, so when the teacher, Mrs. Carver, introduces the recent arrival, Mia, she isn’t very willing to accept her. Several of the boys immediately bully Mia about her glasses, and NoNo joins in. After Mrs. Carver demands that the class apologize, Nina is the only sister—and, in fact, the only student—to help Mia safely to her seat. The triplets tell their parents about the incident at their family dinner, prompting their father to remind them of an important lesson: “That’s right, Treat Everyone Kindly, no matter who they are or what they look like.” The authors and illustrator hide the letters TEK on each page and ask their readers to find them; the “I Spy” game may excite a preschool audience once they realize the letters stand for “Treat Everyone Kindly.” Rekers’ mostly full-bleed illustrations immerse readers in the triplets’ world, using calm colors to evoke a mood of contemplation.
A brief but useful reminder to be kind.Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9798990049611
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Three Cookies Press
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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