A wholesome story about community whose message is more inspiring than its prose.
The sixth installment of Delauney’s Owning the Dashpicture book series follows two young brothers who take on household responsibilities.
When Mom falls off her bike and breaks her leg, brothers Luke and Iver make a list of chores they can do while she’s recovering: cleaning, cooking, looking after the family dog. They also aim to help pay some bills by selling brownies. As the days go by, all this work takes its toll on the brothers. They grow fatigued and fall behind at school. One day, they wake to find all the neighborhood kids (portrayed as ethnically diverse, with one girl in a wheelchair) have come to help them complete their to-do list. So successful are these joint efforts, the kids make a pact always to be there for one another. Delauney writes with heart and enthusiasm, but with no clear appreciation of meter, leading to a narrative that contorts itself in search of end rhymes. For example: “As Iver finished reading, they heard the doorbell ring. / Luke rushed to open the front door and jumped back smiling. / ‘Who is it?’ Iver demanded. ‘Who is at the door?’ / Luke gazed back at his brother. ‘Honestly, I’m not sure.’” Textual flow notwithstanding, young readers will likely respond well to the brothers’ good intentions and upbeat approach to family obligations, their bright outlook reflected in Civati’s open, pastel digital illustrations. Plot and picture combine nicely together to convey a sense of community.
A wholesome story about community whose message is more inspiring than its prose.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9798891380837
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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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BOOK REVIEW
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.
The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.
Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9780593621110
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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