Magical and message-driven but slightly off the mark.
A fairy stops granting wishes that don’t align with her traditional values.
Light-skinned and pink-clad Rose has been granting wishes as “the pink fairy” for thousands of years—almost as long as she’s been alive. But when children start asking Rose for things that don’t conform to gender norms, Rose is perplexed. She won’t let “a pretty little girl” be a rugby player or “a handsome little boy” be a dancer. Instead, she just flies off with a “Goodness me!” leaving the children confused and upset. Their wishes go unfulfilled. Despite intervention from her fairy friends, Rose refuses to grant wishes, and her behavior becomes even odder as she begins to menacingly chase the kids. The children start to fear the pink fairy instead of looking forward to her visits. Surprising herself, Rose realizes that her true passion is scaring children and that she wants to be an ogre instead. She begs the fairy queen to make it so. This unique fairy tale—translated from Spanish—sparkles with its message that "hurt people hurt people." Some may be perturbed, however, that Rose is ultimately rewarded for her harmful actions rather than held accountable (though many of the kids seem to enjoy the scares). Nonetheless, Orecchia’s colorful, textured art creates a magical and inviting world. The children and fairy friends alike are racially diverse. Some have multicolored outfits, too—a nice visual representation of open-mindedness against Rose’s monochrome look.
Magical and message-driven but slightly off the mark. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 18, 2024
ISBN: 9788419607904
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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