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HEALTHY FOODS FROM A TO Z / COMIDA SANA DEL LA A AL LA Z

COMIDA SANA DE LA A AL LA Z

Readers may find themselves hungry when they finish.

Recognition and identification are the goals of this bilingual alphabet book that combines emotional literacy with nutrition.

Photographer Comet presents "faces" made of photo collaged fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, dairy and soy foods and key spices. The multidisciplinary approach encourages children to learn letters and food names in both languages while interpreting each edible expression. While many foods widely recognized across the United States are included, some newer varieties, such as the jícama root and kiwano, are also mentioned. On each page, photos of the food are isolated and identified, and they also form the constituent parts of a face. Foods identified by their English names (huckleberries, honeydew) appear on the left, and those identified by their Spanish names (higo, hierbabuena) are on the right; the appropriate translations appear beneath each word or phrase in parentheses. Some letters are combined on a page, as with Q R (quince, queso) and X Y Z (zucchini, xonocostle). The array of faces is followed by an activities section that encourages children to create their own food-centered faces through a selection of shapes fitted to a face template. A bilingual list of 10 additional projects such as an edible food bouquet and herb growing and healthy-food facts in both languages round out this educational guide.

Readers may find themselves hungry when they finish. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-9834983-1-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Moonstone Press LLC

Review Posted Online: July 18, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012

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THE CRAYONS GO BACK TO SCHOOL

Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.

The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.

Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)

Pub Date: May 16, 2023

ISBN: 9780593621110

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

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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