An insightful and heartening reminder to accept emotions and respect feelings.
A picture book encourages kids to recognize their emotions.
Cummings’ White narrator explains that “feelings…help you explore…like crayons coloring you within.” The narrator describes situations and common emotional responses, reminding readers to recognize and accept their feelings by repeating the phrase “and that’s okay!” For instance, readers can say “I feel sad and that’s okay!” after “hearing names or words that hurt, / getting teased about your shirt. / Saying bye to furry friends. / The final day when summer ends.” Other scenarios include feeling lonely, loved, scared, embarrassed, or joyful (“Eating cones of cold ice cream. / Waking up from a happy dream. / Building castles made of sand. / Giving friends a helping hand”). Ultimately, the narrator stresses that it’s essential to “honor feelings, breathe them deep,” and acknowledge their impermanence. The author accessibly demonstrates the significance of emotional awareness and recognition through kid-friendly, relatable examples. The work will be a valuable and validating resource for youngsters. Shojaie’s friendly, cartoonish illustrations include Black, brown, Asian, and White kids. Most scenes mirror descriptions in the text, as when an “embarrassed” kid cries after falling off a bike, a child feels “loved” playing a game with grandma, and another feels “safe” reading in bed with mom. Some spreads feature creative elements, such as a youngster holding hands with an anthropomorphic heart. The last page shows kids with different facial expressions clutching vivid hearts against a rainbow sky.
An insightful and heartening reminder to accept emotions and respect feelings.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-951597-17-7
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Free Kids Press
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
Another endearing and amusing outing with these winsome characters.
The Crayons love a holiday, and Mother’s Day is no exception.
Every color is different, and so is every mom. Purple’s mother, seated cross-legged in a yoga pose, “doesn’t color inside the lines.” Red’s works tirelessly to support her family, which sometimes means missing holidays. White Crayon adores his mother, “even though he can’t see her” (the accompanying image shows both crayons fading into the white background), while pale lime green Esteban’s mom supports his “dreams of adventure” by helping him pack. All the Crayons celebrate their families on this day, and not all the parents look like their children or are mothers. Laudably, Daywalt and Jeffers depict a variety of different families, allowing many readers to feel seen: Black can’t contain her love for both her mothers, the hair-covered brownish-beige Barfy Crayon embraces his stepmom, Chunky Toddler (a chubby crayon with a bite taken out of him) pays tribute to his dad on Mother’s Day, Yellow and Orange honor their grandmother, and Maroon, presumably adopted, sings the praises of his mom, a pot of glue who literally holds the family together. As in previous Crayon books, Jeffers’ elegantly quirky and humorous illustrations complement Daywalt’s delightful text, which adeptly balances humor and heart.
Another endearing and amusing outing with these winsome characters. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593624586
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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