by Paula Yoo ; illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2016
Young readers are sure to want to join Pablo, Lily, and all of their friends, and it’s wonderful to note that the diverse...
In the companion title to Yoo and Ng-Benitez’s Lily’s New Home (2015), Lily enjoys playing with a diverse group of friends in her new neighborhood.
A helpful title-page illustration introduces Lily and her friends, Henry (the only white child), Mei, Pablo, and Padma, by name in order to support new readers in keeping track of them from one page to the next. Then, the first brief chapter opens with Pablo heading outside to read after being distracted by his sisters’ indoor play. He abandons his book, however, when Lily comes by with her mother and invites him to go to the park. They are soon joined by Mei, Henry, and Padma, and they go on the swings, play basketball, and climb on the play structure. Ng-Benitez’s inviting multimedia art deftly conveys a shift when the children’s play moves into imaginary scenarios as verso-page depictions of the playground come into dialogue with facing recto images of imagined scenes in a cave, at the beach, in space, and so on. When rain threatens, the children all go to Pablo’s house, where they join his sisters in their play.
Young readers are sure to want to join Pablo, Lily, and all of their friends, and it’s wonderful to note that the diverse characterization will aid in making many feel all the more included. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62014-250-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
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by Samantha Thornhill ; illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez
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by Mo Willems ; illustrated by Mo Willems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 2014
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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by Matthew Cordell ; illustrated by Matthew Cordell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2023
A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time.
Soup is always the correct solution.
Evergreen, a young squirrel who lives high in a tree in Buckthorn Forest, is afraid of most things, but top of the list is thunderstorms. When her mother, who makes magical soup, asks her to take an acorn full of soup to Granny Oak, who is ill with the flu, Evergreen is afraid that she won’t be brave enough to do it. But she knows she must—and that she must be careful not to spill a drop, as “Granny Oak will need every bit of it to get better.” Setting off, the scared squirrel encounters a menagerie of adventures and forest creatures in her journey. It’s a wild, imaginative read and one that twists and turns like a forest path, with unexpected surprises along the way. Cordell is a masterful storyteller, and readers will love following Evergreen’s journey as she grows into a more confident squirrel. The artwork is the real star of the show, however; there’s a hint of Sendak in the characters’ humorous expressions and in the timeless pen-and-watercolor backgrounds that cry out to be examined in detail. Educators and caregivers will love reading this story aloud in installments, and readers will adore seeing what Evergreen encounters in her travels. A hint of future stories will tantalize readers, who will close the book eager for a new volume to devour.
A spellbinding tale that will never brown or fade with time. (Early chapter book. 6-8)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-31717-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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