bookshelf

LITTLE UNICORN IS SAD

Name: LITTLE UNICORN IS SAD
Author: Aurélie Chien Chow Chine
ISBN: 978-0-316-53190-0

From the Little Unicorn series

by Aurélie Chien Chow Chine ; illustrated by Aurélie Chien Chow Chine ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 2020

Give this emotional-literacy offering a pass.

bookshelf

When Little Unicorn feels an unpleasant emotion, he uses a breathing technique to overcome it.

This translated French import features a unicorn with a magical mane, which changes color to show exactly what emotion he’s feeling. Negative emotions are presented as problems to be solved. An unadorned, didactic narrative explains that Little Unicorn had an argument with friends, and this is why he is feeling a sadness like “a giant gray cloud in his head.” His solution is to do a breathing exercise, which is presented step by step for readers on the following pages. Companion title Little Unicorn Is Shy also follows this format. The illustrations are sparse, a small patch of color in a sea of white space, in which white unicorns differentiated mostly by mane and tale patterns are depicted. Unfortunately, rather than being the tools for self-regulation these books clearly strive to be, they create a sense that challenging emotions are problems children should be responsible for fixing. The breathing exercises are presented as solutions to the problematic emotions, but there is no explanation or context provided to support their effectiveness, which is questionable. For example, the breathing exercise presented in Little Unicorn Is Shy includes a portion of breath retention, which can actually be anxiety-producing in young children.

Give this emotional-literacy offering a pass. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-316-53190-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S DRAGONS & MYTHICAL CREATURES | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

bookshelf

ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

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...

bookshelf

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

bookshelf

THE BIG CHEESE

From the Food Group series

by Jory John ; illustrated by Pete Oswald ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2023

From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers.

bookshelf

A winning wheel of cheddar with braggadocio to match narrates a tale of comeuppance and redemption.

From humble beginnings among kitchen curds living “quiet lives of pasteurization,” the Big Cheese longs to be the best and builds success and renown based on proven skills and dependable results: “I stuck to the things I was good at.” When newcomer Wedge moves to the village of Curds-on-Whey, the Cheese’s star status wobbles and falls. Turns out that quiet, modest Wedge is also multitalented. At the annual Cheese-cathlon, Wedge bests six-time winner Cheese in every event, from the footrace and chess to hat making and bread buttering. A disappointed Cheese throws a full-blown tantrum before arriving at a moment of truth: Self-calming, conscious breathing permits deep relief that losing—even badly—does not result in disaster. A debrief with Wedge “that wasn’t all about me” leads to further realizations: Losing builds empathy for others; obsession with winning obscures “the joy of participating.” The chastened cheddar learns to reserve bragging for lifting up friends, because anyone can be the Big Cheese. More didactic and less pun-rich than previous entries in the Food Group series, this outing nevertheless couples a cheerful refrain with pithy life lessons that hit home. Oswald’s detailed, comical illustrations continue to provide laughs, including a spot with Cheese onstage doing a “CHED” talk.

From curds to riches, from meltdown to uplift—this multicourse romp delivers. (Picture book. 4-8)