An entertainingly helpful approach to teaching kids what they all should know: Use a tissue.
This children’s picture book explains in humorous kid terms why good nasal hygiene is important and how to practice it.
“Yes, boogers are gross,” admits this book, but they’re not just that: “This special mucus has quite a big job. / It slurps tiny germs and makes them a blob.” But where do they go when they leave your nose? In rhyming couplets, the book presents a variety of gross scenarios for how young children tend to deal with boogers: wiped on a sleeve, deposited beneath a chair, smeared on one’s face, wiped onto a dog, shoved up inside a nostril, and worse…disgustingly worse. (Readers with weak stomachs may need to skip a page or two.) What’s the problem, besides grossness? Boogers are filled with germs, so to avoid spreading sickness, children should use a tissue and throw it away properly into the trash. Not only does this help people, the boogers like it: “Your boogers work hard / And they do their best. / So please grant their wish / For soft, comfy rest.” A glossary is included. In his debut book, Andrews addresses a legitimate problem and helps kids understand the why behind hygiene rules—not in a scolding way but with humor, jokes, and silliness. His rhyming couplets scan well with an appealing rhythm. Long’s (Terrible Tom & Mabel, 2014, etc.) illustrations are funny, colorful, and all too expressive for some readers but will appeal to most kids.
An entertainingly helpful approach to teaching kids what they all should know: Use a tissue.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-692-93447-0
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Black Swan Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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