A charming and educational tale that swims into a world of childhood wonder.
Kapoor’s picture book offers a joyful counting adventure that highlights a child’s creativity.
A curious young boy named Jon spends time with his Nana during a sunny day at the beach. What begins as a simple counting game—one shell, two buckets, three umbrellas—turns into something much grander after he closes his eyes and starts using his imagination. In his mind’s eye, Jon dives beneath the waves and begins counting ocean creatures, such as stingrays, sea turtles, and hammerhead sharks, and meets friendly dolphins who guide and protect him. Before long, he opens his eyes and retells his sea adventure to his Nana, who smiles knowingly and hints at future adventures. More facts about flora and fauna appear at the end of the book. Ard’s bright, expressive full-color illustrations give life to the warm beach scenes and the mysterious ocean depths. The vivid colors and details invite young readers to explore each page closely, and the story’s gentle pace and dreamlike tone make it excellent for bedtime reading. The counting element also offers a fun and educational way to reinforce early math skills. With its engaging rhythm, colorful artwork, and imaginative storyline, this book is a great read-aloud that kids will enjoy again and again.
A charming and educational tale that swims into a world of childhood wonder.Pub Date: March 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781962981231
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Bealu Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.
Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.
Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665954785
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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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