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CAN YOU SEE IT?

Name: CAN YOU SEE IT?
Author: Susan Verde
ISBN: 9781419761638

From the Sensing Your World series

by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Juliana Perdomo ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2023

Much good to see here.

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Warm guidance on the difference between looking and seeing.

Verde is well established as a writer skilled at introducing concepts of mindfulness to young readers, with titles such as those in the I Am series, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, to her credit. With this latest offering, she collaborates with illustrator Perdomo to invite children to “slow down— / find stillness, and notice / with patience and curiosity.” First-person narration delivers this invitation in the voice of a child who presents Black. The young narrator first distinguishes between looking at a tree and truly seeing the life it experiences and sustains—“Signs of change and letting go, / flowering and feeding, / shading and sheltering. / A place to call home.” The narrator then directly asks readers what they see in the accompanying, brightly colored illustration of flora and fauna alike in an up-close image of the tree’s branches. The following pages continue in this manner, helping readers “see” both tangible and intangible qualities of the world they inhabit, with illustrations echoing illustrator Karen Katz’s style and expanding on the text to prompt careful examination. While the book is engaging, some may notice a missed opportunity for inclusion of visually impaired people, who, while unable to literally look at the world, can surely perceive a great deal in other ways. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Much good to see here. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: April 4, 2023

ISBN: 9781419761638

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Abrams

Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
I AM WE
by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

- BOOK REVIEW
ARE YOU LISTENING?
by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Juliana Perdomo

- BOOK REVIEW
WHO I AM
by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

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CHICKA CHICKA HO HO HO

From the Chicka Chicka Book series

by William Boniface ; illustrated by Julien Chung ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2024

A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree.

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A Christmas edition of the beloved alphabet book.

The story starts off nearly identically to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989), written by John Archambault and the late Bill Martin Jr, with the letters A, B, and C deciding to meet in the branches of a tree. This time, they’re attempting to scale a Christmas tree, not a coconut tree, and the letters are strung together like garland. A, B, and C are joined by the other letters, and of course they all “slip, slop, topple, plop!” right down the tree. At the bottom, they discover an assortment of gifts, all in a variety of shapes. As a team, the letters and presents organize themselves to get back up on the Christmas tree and get a star to the top. Holiday iterations of favorite tales often fall flat, but this take succeeds. The gifts are an easy way to reinforce another preschool concept—shapes—and the text uses just enough of the original to be familiar. The rhyming works, sticking to the cadence of the source material. The illustrations pay homage to the late Lois Ehlert’s, featuring the same bold block letters, though they lack some of the whimsy and personality of the original. Otherwise, everything is similarly brightly colored and simply drawn. Those familiar with the classic will be drawn to this one, but newcomers can enjoy it on its own.

A successful swap from coconut tree to Christmas tree. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024

ISBN: 9781665954761

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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)