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THE MAN IN THE CLOUDS

Name: THE MAN IN THE CLOUDS
Author: Koos Meinderts
ISBN: 978-1-935954-13-2

by Koos Meinderts & illustrated by Annette Fienieg ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2012

A lovely parable for our times from an acclaimed Dutch husband/wife team.

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A mountaintop is home to the man in the clouds, so called by the villagers in the valley below.

How he came to be there, no one knows, but every day he sits in his wooden cottage and draws inspiration from a beautiful landscape painting on his wall. Villagers escape the drudgery of their lives by climbing up to gaze upon the painting, ignoring the beauty of the scenery along the way. The old man welcomes all sorts to his modest home, but when a stranger comes to see his famous painting and puts the idea into his head that selling it could make him rich, he can no longer just enjoy it for the peace it gave him. Fearful and unhappy, his attitude toward the painting and his visitors changes, and he makes a fateful decision. Written in the style of a traditional tale, this very readable story is richly amplified by Fienieg's soft watercolors, from the invitingly skewed lines of the house to the foreboding shadows that reflect the man's darkening mood. The simplicity of the idyllic setting is echoed in the unadorned typeface. Endpapers depict a grand view of valleys between mountaintops just touched with sunlight, a hint of what awaits those who can appreciate what they already have.

A lovely parable for our times from an acclaimed Dutch husband/wife team. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: April 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-935954-13-2

Page Count: 38

Publisher: Lemniscaat USA

Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON MY STREET
by Koos Meinderts ; illustrated by Annette Fienieg ; adapted by MaryChris Bradley

- PROFILES
The Simply Divine ‘Man in the Clouds’

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2025

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.

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In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.

Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”

A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 25, 2025

ISBN: 9780063387843

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK'S VALENTINE
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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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)