A creative, child-centered picture book about finding a new home after immigration.
Iranian immigrant Rashin is getting ready for her first day of school in the United States.
She begins her day with a series of cheerful shapes or memories of shapes that brought her happiness in Iran. For breakfast, her mother makes her a circular pancake shaped like a smiley face for good luck. When she walks to school in the rain, she uses an umbrella that is shaped like a cat, and she passes bicycle and car wheels shaped like circles. She starts to miss the shapes she knew from Iran, like the braided bread from the baker’s, the triangular sails of paper boats, and the heart-shaped wreaths her best friend, Azadeh, made from fresh blossoms. At school, the shape theme continues when Rashin’s new teacher, Mrs. Martin, tells them she is from Benin, which is shaped like a flashlight. Soon all the children are introducing their home countries and their shapes: Japan is shaped like a seahorse; Italy is shaped like a boot. And, of course, there’s Rashin’s own country, Iran, which she says is shaped like a cat. By the end of the day, Rashin is feeling a little better about going to school—and about calling America her home. This ebulliently illustrated, frankly told immigration story glows with good cheer and artfully balances homesickness, excitement, and fear. The author’s thematic use of shapes is an organic, child-friendly way to drive a plot that is both emotionally layered and fun to read. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A creative, child-centered picture book about finding a new home after immigration. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64614-098-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Sure to have little ones giggling.
Jacques is a hedgehog with a big secret: “I wear real, bona fide underwear.”
Our narrator received a mysterious package one day; an illustration shows a pair of underwear tied to a balloon with a note “from the Universe” floating down into Jacques’ burrow. Hedgehogs don’t wear underwear, however. Will Jacques be shunned? Jacques worries but comes to a decision: “I have to wear them. When I do I feel special.” Determined, Jacques, who’s been invited to a party, makes a dramatic entrance, with undies in hand. Jacques’ declaration (“I WEAR UNDERWEAR”) is met with remarks of dismay, before another hedgehog opens up about similar fears and shows off a pair of cowboy boots. More hedgehogs introduce themselves with their own confessions. The story ends with Jacques unveiling a painting of the underwear in a gallery filled with hedgehogs wearing all sorts of attire. Though the book is simple in plot, characters, and setting, it wins in its balance of bathroom humor, dramatic storytelling, and celebrations of individual expression. French words are peppered throughout, adding to the fun without detracting from the story for those unfamiliar with the language. The cartoonish illustrations brim with fun; Valdez relies heavily on geometric shapes (triangle noses for the hedgehogs; huge circles for their eyes). Details such as speech bubbles and recurring turtle and snake characters contribute to the outlandish humor.
Sure to have little ones giggling. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781250814388
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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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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