by Louise Borden ; illustrated by Geneviève Godbout ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 14, 2015
There’s a little luck in each person’s day; here’s hoping young children’s eyes are open to theirs.
Theodore’s gloomy morning improves when he finds a penny that brings him luck all day long.
Or at least that’s what he believes. It’s hard to imagine anything bringing down Borden’s mostly upbeat, positive protagonist. He compliments his mother, celebrates the sun, is happy to see his favorite bus driver, Slim, and believes his school’s the best in the world. And things do go right for him: he’s the calendar helper, has his poem read aloud, dominates at tetherball, and is the line leader—and that’s just the morning. On the bus, after a chat with Slim about luck, Theodore secretly leaves the penny in a spot where Slim is sure to find it. “Theodore had found his own luck in a shiny penny…enough to give to a friend…and enough for tomorrow, too.” While kids may not be able to relate to the effervescent Theodore or ever imagine a day as good as his, those new to school may be comforted by the depicted routines of his day in kindergarten. Godbout’s colored-pencil illustrations reflect the wide range of emotions children experience during the school day, and readers who look closely are sure to be rewarded by small, humorous details, though her rosy-cheeked and -nosed characters might take some getting used to.
There’s a little luck in each person’s day; here’s hoping young children’s eyes are open to theirs. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-1394-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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by Louise Borden ; illustrated by Raúl Colón
by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Chloe Dominique ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Pleasant enough but not particularly original.
Uplifting messages of positivity from the Today show anchor.
Hope springs eternal, so the saying goes. Kotb agrees, here delivering to children the cheery news that hope lives inside all of them and that whatever they might wish for can be theirs. All they need is a sunny outlook, and the possibilities for happy outcomes are virtually endless. Children’s dreams can be in-the-moment ones—like purple ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry—or more far-ranging ones, such as growing tall enough to reach that high shelf easily or for hair that’s long enough to braid. It doesn’t matter, the author reassures young readers. Your aspirations will be realized, so don’t give up on them—just keep believing in them and, most of all, in yourself. Throughout, Kotb calls hope a rainbow, a feeling, a gift, and a wish. Hope is “new friends you’ll find— / friends who are loving and funny and kind.” Hope is “practicing your heart out, letter by letter.” The book’s overarching theme is upbeat, but its bouncy rhyming text is clumsy. The child-appealing illustrations are colorful and lively, though they have a generic look. The cast of wide-eyed characters is racially diverse; some have visible disabilities.
Pleasant enough but not particularly original. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624128
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Suzie Mason
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...
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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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings
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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino
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