by Andrea Tsurumi ; illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 2017
Accidents are OK. This entertaining romp acknowledges that those who have them are OK, too.
Oopses occur when animals of varied sizes, colors, and species wreak havoc around town and pay a riotous price—but learn a valuable life lesson.
Trouble begins on the title-page spread when Lola, a smooth, yellow armadillo, haplessly spills juice on a white armchair. Her solution? To hide in the library until adulthood. On the way, Lola encounters three neighbors, each of whom has experienced a misfortune, and they join her. So intent are they on reaching safe haven that no one notices that everyone else around is embroiled in disasters, and troubles escalate from there. Tsurumi portrays accumulating sequences of missteps in breathless, hilarious detail; children will have great fun poring over and savoring the escapades, some of which are depicted small. Besides honing visual-literacy skills, this is a neat vehicle for developing vocabulary, as pertinent themed words (“FIASCO!”; “MAYHEM!”) are wittily incorporated into the comical illustrations as sound effects or speech-balloon dialogue. Aside from that, text is sparse. At the end, the point is made that some unlucky occurrences are, well, accidents. Sweet scenes showing concerned neighbors apologizing, making restitution, and dutifully cleaning up clarify that such incidents are forgivable and fixable. The final pages, depicting Lola’s parent also experiencing an oops-able moment, convey this message more pointedly. Note a final, delightful “accident” on the back endpapers.
Accidents are OK. This entertaining romp acknowledges that those who have them are OK, too. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-94480-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Chloe Dominique ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Pleasant enough but not particularly original.
Uplifting messages of positivity from the Today show anchor.
Hope springs eternal, so the saying goes. Kotb agrees, here delivering to children the cheery news that hope lives inside all of them and that whatever they might wish for can be theirs. All they need is a sunny outlook, and the possibilities for happy outcomes are virtually endless. Children’s dreams can be in-the-moment ones—like purple ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry—or more far-ranging ones, such as growing tall enough to reach that high shelf easily or for hair that’s long enough to braid. It doesn’t matter, the author reassures young readers. Your aspirations will be realized, so don’t give up on them—just keep believing in them and, most of all, in yourself. Throughout, Kotb calls hope a rainbow, a feeling, a gift, and a wish. Hope is “new friends you’ll find— / friends who are loving and funny and kind.” Hope is “practicing your heart out, letter by letter.” The book’s overarching theme is upbeat, but its bouncy rhyming text is clumsy. The child-appealing illustrations are colorful and lively, though they have a generic look. The cast of wide-eyed characters is racially diverse; some have visible disabilities.
Pleasant enough but not particularly original. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624128
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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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...
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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