LOLA KNOWS A LOT

Name: LOLA KNOWS A LOT
Author: Jenna McCarthy
ISBN: 978-0-06-225017-9

by Jenna McCarthy ; illustrated by Sara Palacios ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 7, 2016

By the end, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lola’s learned the most important thing of all: she’s “ready to learn all...

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A little girl starting school for the first time already knows a lot of things, but her big sister’s got her worried others will know more.

So little Lola lists out for readers some of the awesome things she can do. She can drive the car…from the back seat; teach her mom (yet again) how to work the remote control; and play the piano (only one song, but she’s great at it). Dad doesn’t always appreciate her setting him up to show off what she knows at his expense, and though Lola has a talent for driving her sister crazy, “I’m not saying you should try it. I’m just saying I happen to be especially good at it.” And readers should take her word for it that they shouldn’t cut their own hair. Among the tongue-in-cheek lessons Lola has learned are some gems about siblings, eating healthy, and life: “practicing isn’t as fun as doing. But I also know you can’t get good at anything without a lot of practice.” Palacios’ blonde, white, tutu-clad tot is wonderfully self-assured, self-confident, and exuberant, all of which come through in the digital illustrations, which are a mix of watercolor, colored pencil, and cut paper.

By the end, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lola’s learned the most important thing of all: she’s “ready to learn all the things I still don’t know.” (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 7, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-225017-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
LOLA'S RULES FOR FRIENDSHIP
by Jenna McCarthy ; illustrated by Sara Palacios

- BOOK REVIEW
POPPY LOUISE IS NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING
by Jenna McCarthy ; illustrated by Molly Idle

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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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THE MAGICAL YET

by Angela DiTerlizzi ; illustrated by Lorena Alvarez ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2020

A solid if message-driven conversation starter about the hard parts of learning.

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Children realize their dreams one step at a time in this story about growth mindset.

A child crashes and damages a new bicycle on a dark, rainy day. Attempting a wheelie, the novice cyclist falls onto the sidewalk, grimacing, and, having internalized this setback as failure, vows to never ride again but to “walk…forever.” Then the unnamed protagonist happens upon a glowing orb in the forest, a “thought rearranger-er”—a luminous pink fairy called the Magical Yet. This Yet reminds the child of past accomplishments and encourages perseverance. The second-person rhyming couplets remind readers that mistakes are part of learning and that with patience and effort, children can achieve. Readers see the protagonist learn to ride the bike before a flash-forward shows the child as a capable college graduate confidently designing a sleek new bike. This book shines with diversity: racial, ethnic, ability, and gender. The gender-indeterminate protagonist has light brown skin and exuberant curly locks; Amid the bustling secondary cast, one child uses a prosthesis, and another wears hijab. At no point in the text is the Yet defined as a metaphor for a growth mindset; adults reading with younger children will likely need to clarify this abstract lesson. The artwork is powerful and detailed—pay special attention to the endpapers that progress to show the Yet at work.

A solid if message-driven conversation starter about the hard parts of learning. (Picture book. 4-8)