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HERE AND THERE

Name: HERE AND THERE
Author: Tamara Ellis Smith
ISBN: 978-1-78285-741-9

by Tamara Ellis Smith ; illustrated by Evelyn Daviddi ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2019

Needed everywhere.

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A child with newly separated parents grapples with moving back and forth between their homes.

Ivan doesn’t want “to go There (his dad’s new house).” At Mama’s house (which he thinks of as “Here”), Ivan indulges his love of birds by feeding them and mimicking their calls and songs. But when he’s There, he’s still and quiet, refusing to engage with Dad and remaining silent when he hears birds. But when Dad plays his guitar, Ivan can’t resist. “He felt the way he did when Mama lifted him high to pick pears from the branches of their tree. He moved the way he did when Dad pushed him on a swing as high as the sun.” Dad invites Ivan to put words to the song, and he does, with a mishmash of bird calls, cheers, and the words “Here” and “There.” The father-and-son collaboration makes “There” feel more like a home, so much so that Ivan feels he’s lost something when he returns to Mama’s house. She notices he’s still and quiet and successfully draws him out. He hears birds, remembers the song, and sings it to Mama. Appropriately, this isn’t a happily-ever-after story but one that offers affirmation and hope for kids navigating parental separation. In Daviddi’s pencil, acrylic-paint, and collage illustrations Ivan and Mama both have brown skin and dark Afros while Dad presents white. There seems to be little attempt to represent the birds naturalistically, but there is a guide to the calls in the backmatter.

Needed everywhere. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 31, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-78285-741-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Barefoot Books

Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

- BOOK REVIEW
GRIEF IS AN ELEPHANT
by Tamara Ellis Smith ; illustrated by Nancy Whitesides

- BOOK REVIEW
ANOTHER KIND OF HURRICANE
by Tamara Ellis Smith

- PERSPECTIVES
Bibliotherapy for All

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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)

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)