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PABLO PINEDA

Name: PABLO PINEDA
Author: Albert Bosch
ISBN: 978-84-16733-23-1

BEING DIFFERENT IS A VALUE

From the What Really Matters series

by Albert Bosch & María Sala ; illustrated by Silvia Álvarez ; translated by Jon Brokenbrow ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2017

A disappointingly vague tale of achievement in the face of low expectations.

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Bosch and Sala relate the accomplishments of Pablo Pineda, a white Spanish boy who became the first European with Down syndrome to graduate from university.

In an awkward framing device, an anonymous child relates to readers what a teacher told a class about Pineda. After Pineda’s parents learned he had Down syndrome (which is described not as a developmental disability but as “special abilities”), they insisted on encouraging his independence and sending him to mainstream schools. In high school, his humor won him friends despite occasional teasing, and he graduated as “the best student in his year.” Despite loneliness, he attended university and obtained a teaching degree. Pineda’s skill with language netted him further work as a speaker, author, and award-winning actor. Pineda is seldom depicted without a book, emphasizing his desire to learn. However, the simple text literally and figuratively pales against Álvarez’s color-saturated pastel illustrations; on dark backgrounds, the words are barely visible. Though Pineda’s accomplishments and strong positive influences offer encouragement, the breezy assertion that he “didn’t believe anything was impossible, and simply achieved his goals” somewhat glosses over the work such achievements required. Readers struggling with learning difficulties, in particular, may be left wanting more concrete details of how he achieved those goals.

A disappointingly vague tale of achievement in the face of low expectations. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 13, 2017

ISBN: 978-84-16733-23-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Cuento de Luz

Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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SPAGHETTI HEAD & CHICKEN FINGERS

by Rhett McLaughlin & Link Neal ; illustrated by Erica Salcedo ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2026

Wild and wacky.

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A picture book from the comedy duo known as Rhett & Link, creators of the online juggernaut Good Mythical Morning.

Lumo is obsessed with chicken fingers; Saffy, who is new to town and anxious about starting school, finds comfort in the only food she likes: buttered spaghetti. The night before the first day of school, a thunderstorm rages, and each kid makes a wish—“to have chicken fingers at school,” in Lumo’s case; Saffy wishes for “the first thing off the top of her head: buttered spaghetti.” File under “Be careful what you wish for.” Lumo’s and Saffy’s respective physical changes (chicken fingers for fingers, spaghetti for hair) make navigating school a challenge but bring them together in the cafeteria, where they enjoy some new foods—and their new friendship. The plotting could have been sharper: Why do the kids’ bodies suddenly return to normal? And couldn’t the authors have thought up a less old-hat story-ending punch line? Nevertheless, McLaughlin and Neal get by on their charm, and the plot sets up some funny visuals. Salcedo’s cartoony Photoshop art features well-chosen artifacts from a typical kid’s life and captures the mortification of not fitting in, which will be familiar even to readers who have never experienced breaded fingers or noodle hair. Lumo is brown-skinned and dark-haired; Saffy is pale-skinned with disheveled reddish-brown hair.

Wild and wacky. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 16, 2026

ISBN: 9780063474154

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HarperPop/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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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)