A winning story of acceptance and love, especially for those who are different.
A child discovers that friendship can overcome the challenges of language and differing abilities in this debut picture book.
Hope, excited about the first day of school, is startled by a collision with a girl on a scooter. The rider, Summy, says, “Ooo... Eee…,” which her mother explains means “Sorry.” Hope finds out that Summy has trouble learning words. Their teacher devises a task. Each student will teach Summy one word, and then the class will have a Popsicle party. Because Hope and Summy love hearts, Hope decides to teach the word heart, but no technique works. When Summy overhears a conversation between Hope and a classmate, who says dismissively, “My parents told me everything about kids like her,” Summy’s feelings are hurt. After Hope rescues Summy, who’s stuck on a climbing wall, she apologizes for hurting the girl’s feelings. Summy then explains what heart means to her: love. Barros’ straightforward narrative style is from Hope’s point of view; the vocabulary is accessible to early elementary school readers. Although Barros never explains the reason for Summy’s difficulties, the descriptions of her eyes and speech—as well as a note that the author has a child with Down syndrome—indicates that Summy has the syndrome. Hope’s understanding and love for Summy, despite the prejudices of others, are a wonderful model of acceptance of those with different abilities. Dol’s beautifully detailed cartoon illustrations feature a diverse group of students.
A winning story of acceptance and love, especially for those who are different.Pub Date: June 20, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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