“Peace is on purpose. / Peace is a choice. / Peace lets the smallest of us / have a voice.” In this attractive package, lyrical, rhyming text explores various forms of peace. A few usual laundry-list suspects are included: “Peace is a hello, / a smile, / a hug.” But the co-authors manage to slip in emotive twists: “Peace can be bold / or quiet and snug.” Extra attention is paid to inclusivity: “Peace is pronouncing / your friend’s name correctly. // Peace means we talk / to each other directly.” This imperative is found in the illustrations as well, in which a multiracial cast of children includes two who wear eyeglasses and one who walks with forearm crutches. Luscious scenes in warm, comforting hues show the children mixing with plump, pillowy animals in a variety of habitats (in one scene a snoozing lion acts as a literal pillow); an authors’ note takes an extra step: Peace means humans living in harmony with one another and living in balance with nature too. During war and conflict, wildlife is also affected. That note also explains that animals from Mozambique—war torn but recovering—grace the pages along with other national symbols of peace. The Pauls offer strong, bold words, hoping they’ll land in the hearts of children everywhere. The lulling text will work well to soothe young activists, but the tricky concept of peace requires an older understanding. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 15.8% of actual size.)
Poignant, broad strokes invite a deep delve. (Picture book. 3-10)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4449-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Children realize their dreams one step at a time in this story about growth mindset.
A child crashes and damages a new bicycle on a dark, rainy day. Attempting a wheelie, the novice cyclist falls onto the sidewalk, grimacing, and, having internalized this setback as failure, vows to never ride again but to “walk…forever.” Then the unnamed protagonist happens upon a glowing orb in the forest, a “thought rearranger-er”—a luminous pink fairy called the Magical Yet. This Yet reminds the child of past accomplishments and encourages perseverance. The second-person rhyming couplets remind readers that mistakes are part of learning and that with patience and effort, children can achieve. Readers see the protagonist learn to ride the bike before a flash-forward shows the child as a capable college graduate confidently designing a sleek new bike. This book shines with diversity: racial, ethnic, ability, and gender. The gender-indeterminate protagonist has light brown skin and exuberant curly locks; Amid the bustling secondary cast, one child uses a prosthesis, and another wears hijab. At no point in the text is the Yet defined as a metaphor for a growth mindset; adults reading with younger children will likely need to clarify this abstract lesson. The artwork is powerful and detailed—pay special attention to the endpapers that progress to show the Yet at work.
A solid if message-driven conversation starter about the hard parts of learning. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-368-02562-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion/LBYR
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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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 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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