It’s swing, hit, and no miss with this rip-roaring charmer.
How far can YOU go?
Vern loves the playground swings, but he usually sits, letting the chains twist and spin him around, or lies stomach-first on the seat. He can’t soar like the other kids. When other children taunt him, he contorts his body in vain, ordering his legs to pump. Then a girl named Gretchen asks if he wants to learn. He painstakingly follows her instructions, and she stays with Vern, not letting him quit, until she finally must leave. Though tempted to give up, Vern persists—and then…he PUMPS, touches the sky, and joins the birds! Earthbound again, Vern hears a small boy wistfully tell him he wishes he could pump. Guess who’s the expert now? Aiming skyward on a swing is, of course, a metaphor for attempting to reach any goal; the reassuring message in this dynamic, fast-paced tale: Don’t quit, keep trying, and you’ll succeed. Throughout, Lucianovic demonstrates a keen, child-friendly understanding of what it’s like to master a new skill: “It feels hard until you get it, and then it’s not.” The energetic, loosely drawn mixed-media illustrations zing with color. Amid all this fun, characters’ hair and skin shades are fancifully depicted, though hair textures suggest that some characters might be people of color. Creative typesetting wizardry, with words and action lines “swinging” everywhere, emphasize the action. Swing by the zesty endpapers.
It’s swing, hit, and no miss with this rip-roaring charmer. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781728460451
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.
Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.
There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781400247417
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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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