An enlightening, child-friendly exploration of what it really means to say “I’m sorry.”
A bad mood prompts a lesson on proper apologies.
Hannah is a charming child…most of the time. On the eve of Yom Kippur, she starts the day by being mean to her brother and making a mess in her already cluttered room. When her mother objects, Hannah offers an insincere “Sorry!” After Hannah accidentally breaks her mother’s favorite Rosh Hashana decoration, her mother decides to teach her what a true apology entails. Her mother writes the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on several pieces of paper and places them on the floor. Jumping on the number 1, Hannah learns to first admit she did something wrong. As Hannah jumps onto the number 2, her mother tells her the next step is feeling remorse. And number 3 is promising to do one’s best in the future. Hannah progresses through the apology, learning how to make amends, and everything culminates with loving hugs all around. Colorful, bold drawings made up of geometric shapes depict a tan-skinned Jewish family; human characters have oversized round heads, while the family dog has a triangular-shaped face. The book ends with a brief note on Yom Kippur, and though this is a good story to share in anticipation of the Jewish Day of Atonement, it’s also a sound year-round message for any child figuring out how to contend with negative emotions. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An enlightening, child-friendly exploration of what it really means to say “I’m sorry.” (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781728460277
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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