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NOOR AND BOBBY

Name: NOOR AND BOBBY
Author: Praline Gay-Para
ISBN: 978-1-63206-327-4

by Praline Gay-Para ; illustrated by Lauranne Quentric ; translated by Alyson Waters ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 25, 2022

A hopeful story laced with complex themes of destruction that centers a child’s love and kindness.

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A child searches for an abandoned dog.

Noor, a boy with dark hair and skin the color of the page, lives with his family in an apartment building. The neighbors have all left, and only a woman on the sixth floor remains. Each morning, Noor waits for her to walk her dog—whom he secretly names Bobby—“dreaming that some day they’ll play together.” One morning, a taxi is waiting for her, and Noor is sad she will take Bobby with her. But then Noor sees Bobby waiting on the curb as the cab departs. When Bobby chases the taxi, Noor runs after him. He urgently searches for Bobby, along the way performing acts of kindness as he frees a bird trapped in barbed wire and provides shelter for a cat who has just given birth. In this book translated from the French, Gay-Para never uses the word war, though her text clearly describes a ravaged city—“Behind a wounded wall”; “Noor climbs atop a pile of stones, steps over rubble.” Quentric’s paper-cut collage illustrations and choice of colors for the buildings—gray and brown—keep the focus on Noor and the animals he encounters. The result is a simple tale that hints at the devastation of military conflict yet exudes optimism; with context from educators or caregivers, this one could be a jumping-off point for larger conversations.(This book was reviewed digitally.)

A hopeful story laced with complex themes of destruction that centers a child’s love and kindness. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-63206-327-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Yonder

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

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Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
PETE THE KITTY'S FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL
by Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

- BOOK REVIEW
I LOVE PETE THE KITTY
by James Dean & Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

- BOOK REVIEW
TOOL SCHOOL
by Joan Holub ; illustrated by James Dean

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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)