An often-engaging book that effectively acknowledges and celebrates different ways of learning.
In Hoffman’s illustrated children’s book, a young girl struggles to convey stories on paper.
Jasmine is an elementary schooler with a passion for storytelling. She loves art and hearing her teacher read aloud, but has difficulty reading and writing herself. Her letters on the page are shaky, barely legible, and confusing to others because she mixes up cases and misspells words. She also has a hard time copying sentences from the chalkboard. Her hardest moments in class are when her teacher, Ms. Anderson, asks pupils to read their own writing aloud, or when she must work with others in a group. One day, Ms. Anderson gives her an assignment that makes her confidence plummet: She must tell a creative story on paper. The youngster has no idea if she can create a tale that other people will find comprehensible. Soon, though, she decides to convey a narrative through illustration instead of text: “The pictures came to life on the page as she presented her tale. Jasmine’s story sparkled.” Thus, in Hoffman’s most recent picture book since Big Dreams (2024), a young girl learns to embrace her talents. Although the main character’s learning difference isn’t explicitly identified, this story may inspire readers who experience issues such as dyslexia or dysgraphia, the latter of which seems underrepresented in children’s literature. The narrative might have benefited from the inclusion of an extra moment of conflict, as Jasmine finds her way to visual storytelling a little too quickly; however, this does not take away from the book’s overall quality. Mello’s illustrations feel larger than life and full of motion, whether they offer imaginative visions of Jasmine fearfully stumbling across huge books or being swept away by anxiety or joy. Jasmine is depicted with brown skin; other students are shown with a range of skin tones.
An often-engaging book that effectively acknowledges and celebrates different ways of learning.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale.
Actor, social media star, and entrepreneur Brown pens a joyful paean to positive thinking in her children’s debut.
Brown-skinned Tab rides a strawberry-themed bike, accompanied by a curly-haired black dog, Grady. Tab’s dazzling smile and wide eyes signal the upbeat theme echoed in the text, celebrating the sun’s warmth, which “fills everyone up with joy.” But Tab’s mood shifts, as it’s a “cloudy and gray” June day. Alert readers will spot the dog’s smiling countenance and note glimpses of sunny yellow butterflies and flowers. Mama’s reassurance that there’s “always a chance” for sunshine also underscores the optimism. Tab and Grady bike through suburban streets “to find the sun.” Along the way, the two stop to assist a neighbor building a birdhouse, loft a kite for friends Frankie and Fonte, and lend a hand to others, all while still having fun. Mama steers Tab toward an eventual understanding of the real source of joy: Though the sun didn’t appear, “I brightened everyone’s day!” The illustrations subtly underscore the message of this radiant story as touches of gold lighten the palette, which ends with sunny brilliance. Most characters read Black, though Tab’s community includes people who vary in skin tone, body type, and ability.
Being kind and helpful lights up the day from within in this inspiring and idyllic slice-of-life tale. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780063342262
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
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
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