“Ele-fans” will remember this funny standout and will return to it again and again.
A witty discourse on fitting in.
Doris is a bright red elephant who’s uncomfortable about standing out and demands that readers not look at her. Self-conscious, she stomps off from the first blank page of the book to the next one, which features colorful birds. They’re the perfect camouflage, and they “hardly notice her.” Do readers? Perhaps Doris is hidden too well. She’s in the throes of an identity crisis: Is she an elephant or “an ele-finch”? When the birds depart, Doris is newly exposed. She marches off to the next page, where she’s lost among wildflowers. Is she an “ele-plant”? When the petals drop off, Doris trudges off into a pool of fish, where she wonders if she’s an “ele-fish." A predator’s arrival sends the smaller fish scurrying, and Doris hilariously scolds the big fish before heading to an entirely red page, where she feels “utterly lost.” Escaping, Doris admits she likes standing out! This humorous, clever U.K. import about overcoming shyness is replete with witty wordplay and Where’s Waldo?–esque playfulness that’s great for honing visual-literacy skills. Kids will enjoy devising riffs on the word elephant and will be inspired to create their own artworks in which they try to “hide” conspicuous Doris. Doris is most endearing, and the dazzling illustrations give off an Elmer the Elephant vibe.
“Ele-fans” will remember this funny standout and will return to it again and again. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781915801289
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boxer Books
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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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