An excellent choice for children who are dealing with the loss of a loved one or just learning about death.
Death is a particularly difficult topic to discuss with children, but this book helps to broach the subject gently and with respect for young people’s sensibilities.
The book opens with the statement “My dear one. Life, like spring, is far too short” accompanied by a picture of a flower with some petals falling off and blowing in the wind. This double-page spread is followed by a series of patterned statements that describe what life will be like for readers when the person they love is no longer alive, both describing reality and offering comfort. “I will not always be…” is coupled with, “But you’ll find me…” in places and moments such as “the flicker of candlelight, the pause between Please and Thank you.” The repeated phrase “I will not always be…” and the ellipsis take on a double meaning, a gentle reminder that one day this person the child loves “will not always be.” The book does not mention an afterlife or make ecclesiastical references; however, birds, butterflies, and candle flames in the illustrations are known to symbolize those who have died in some cultures. As there is no significance given to their presence in the text, this book is beneficial for both children of varying faiths and those who come from homes without a faith tradition. The illustrations are done in a palette of bright but calming pastels, and the children in the illustrations have skin ranging from white to light brown and varying hair types and colors. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.)
An excellent choice for children who are dealing with the loss of a loved one or just learning about death. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4338-3126-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
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