Children can expand on the ideas in this slight celebration of weather; strong backmatter will answer their questions.
A group of racially diverse children show their appreciation for the rain in this series entry.
Each book of the I Like the Weather series starts with the title declaration and a statement as to how that weather “speaks” to an unidentified first-person child narrator: “I like the rain— / pitter-patting through the green, / washing all the petals clean, / tapping on my nose and cheeks. / This is how the rain speaks.” The text then goes on to describe the different activities to enjoy in the rain—splashing in puddles, listening to thunder, and seeing a rainbow. The cheery, soft-edged cartoon illustrations depict all this and add details, such as floating a paper boat in a puddle and taking shelter before a storm. While the rhythms are spot-on (and identical) across all four books, the rhymes are looser: sheets with streaks; cushions with oceans. A backmatter spread in each book gives child-appropriate, easy-to-understand science-based answers to four weather-related questions, including: “What are lightning and thunder”; “Why does wind blow?”; “Why does the sun feel hotter in summer?”; and “Why is snow white?” The final question is always “How does the ___ help us?” Few adults are depicted even when children are in or near bodies of water, and two children on a boat wear rain gear but no life jackets. A single scene in I Like the Wind shows a secondary character in a wheelchair; a primary character throughout wears glasses. (This book was reviewed digitally with 7.9-by-15.8-inch double-page spreads viewed at 44.2% of actual size.)
Children can expand on the ideas in this slight celebration of weather; strong backmatter will answer their questions. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64686-098-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.
Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.
Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665954785
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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
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