An uplifting tale about embracing what makes us different.
When Anjali’s classmates make fun of her name, her mother helps her see the beauty in it and in her Indian heritage.
On her seventh birthday, Anjali is thrilled to receive exactly the present she’d hoped for: a brand-new bicycle. She takes her gift to the school carnival, where she and her best friends, Mary and Courtney, spot a booth selling license plates for bikes. Although the other girls immediately find plates with their names, Anjali doesn’t have any luck. She asks the shopkeeper for help, but he brushes her off. Even worse, an older boy from school overhears the conversation and mocks her name as other kids join in. Anjali returns home in tears and, over dinner, threatens to change her name to Angie. Anjali’s mother tells her that her name is Sanskrit and that it comes from India (“Anjali is a gift. The most precious kind. Divine. Just like you!”). The book’s message is laudable, and the protagonist is delightfully sparkly. Anjali cuts an endearing, large-eyed figure in Blank’s artwork, and the scene in which Anjali’s mother explains her name shimmers with colors. At times, the prose can be clunky, and the bullying scenes may upset very young readers. Overall, though, it’s an affirming read that will resonate with many readers. Mary is tan-skinned, Courtney is White-presenting, and the community is diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An uplifting tale about embracing what makes us different. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-64883-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023
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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