Charming evidence that compromise and inventiveness can produce the best day yet!
In their sophomore outing, supportive bird buddies recognize their differences and devise workarounds that satisfy both of them.
“Playtime” sees Owl wanting to play catch with a beach ball while Penguin holds a racquet, ready for tennis. Short sentences in sans-serif panel captions set out the dilemma: “They cannot agree.” “They play alone.” “Playing alone is no fun.” Light bulbs indicate their simultaneous ideas: They play catch, then bat the beach ball with racquets, then play tennis—and engage in some acrobatics. “Best day ever!” In “Fish,” Penguin wants Owl to see the colorful fish underwater. “But Owl cannot swim.” Penguin tries to submerge Owl in a glass bowl—but “Owl is scared.” So Penguin fills the sphere with fish and holds it up to Owl. While Owl loves the film they watch on “Movie Night,” Penguin is terrified. But they find something to agree on: “Best popcorn ever!” When Owl plays the ukelele, Penguin pushes for Owl to take part in a talent show. On stage, Owl panics until Penguin cheers and Owl relaxes and wins. Finally, Owl finds a creative way to help Penguin fly a kite. Inside simplified outlines, Penguin is pale blue, Owl brown, both with appealing googly-eye faces. The friendship lessons are sound but never heavy-handed. The multiple-frame graphics on every page get the plot across; in fact, the visuals render the text almost superfluous.
Charming evidence that compromise and inventiveness can produce the best day yet! (Graphic early reader. 3-6)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9780823451517
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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: Feb. 15, 2025
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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