by Amy Hest ; illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 2023
A treasure trove of social-emotional skills.
Gentle words and fluid watercolor-and-ink illustrations remind readers how special friendship is.
Four short vignettes feature Billy, a curly-haired sheep, and Rose, a pig. The pair don’t seem to agree on anything, except that they are friends. Billy prefers tall blue books, while Rose insists fat red books are best, but both get caught up in the stories and enjoy reading and rereading together. Billy and Rose disagree about whether it will rain, but when a downpour begins, both embrace the joy of walking in the rain together. When Billy thinks he’s having a bad hair day, Rose agrees that his assessment is correct but reassures him that she likes him even when his hair sticks up. Neither Billy nor Rose is having a birthday, but their disagreement over what constitutes the perfect cupcake threatens to end their friendship—until they separate and reflect before coming together again. Patterns within the stories will help early readers break into reading (for example, each story begins with “Billy and Rose are having a serious discussion. The subject is…”), but what stands out is how Billy and Rose clearly and calmly verbalize their opinions and model sharing, compromise, acceptance, and respecting individual differences.
A treasure trove of social-emotional skills. (Early chapter book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9781536214208
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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by Aaron Reynolds ; illustrated by Peter Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 22, 2017
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
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Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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