The fine message here: Don’t shy away from the chance to be and have a good friend.
Stepping out is better than hiding out.
Ana Moose prefers being alone. She doesn’t have to worry about finding the right thing to say or being picked last for teams. Blending into her surroundings, she dubs herself Anonymoose. Then she sees her classmate Peter, a porcupine, building a fort and wishes she could share her own architectural ideas without revealing herself. So, day after day, Ana leaves sketches from “Anonymoose” around; Peter incorporates her plans into his creation. Ana enjoys watching the fort improving daily. Then her best idea strikes: a tall tower. Is she brave enough to tell Peter personally? Nah. Ana shares her brainstorm the usual way; Peter adds it. Alas, he tumbles and gets hurt, and the fort crashes to the ground. Ana’s dilemma: Reveal herself and help or remain concealed? While she’s thinking, Peter limps off. Next day, Ana hides again, waiting for Peter to return; he doesn’t. Remorseful, Ana slowly emerges from seclusion and attempts to rebuild the fort, unaware that Peter’s actually nearby, observing. Together, they re-create—no, improve on—the original, and they bond. Ana’s no longer Anonymoose. This sweet story reassures readers that shyness is OK and can be overcome. Peter’s fort serves as a metaphor for the walls we sometimes build to shield ourselves from relationships. The colorful, charming illustrations exude lively fun. Ana and Peter are very endearing, relatable protagonists.
The fine message here: Don’t shy away from the chance to be and have a good friend. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9781506497648
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beaming Books
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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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