A well-intentioned but superficial take on Woolf’s famous piece.
Kephart uses Virginia Woolf’s essay to inspire children to find their own creative spaces.
In the opening spread of this picture book, Woolf, referenced only as “she,” steps out of her house, reduced to the size of a dollhouse, and appears in different spots in the garden. Lyrical text explains that “on and on and on she goes, / to that room she calls her own.” In the next scene—a soft, surreal one with the roof peeled back from her tiny house, with an oversized Woolf sitting up and sticking out of it and books flying away like birds—Kephart continues to explain that Woolf’s room is “her place to think. / Her place to dream. Her place to be.” From here, the author encourages readers to find their own rooms or creative spaces. Colorful watercolors in spot art and larger scenes depict diverse children under a tree, on a neighborhood sidewalk, at the kitchen table, under a bedsheet fort, and in more spaces. Serving as a guide, Woolf continues to make appearances along with the children until the last spread, which shows her beginning to write her influential feminist essay. A concluding author’s note finally alleviates potential confusion and vague references by identifying Woolf and her essay in text and a photograph. Still, though both the text and visuals are beautiful, the concept is a bit heady for the target audience, and the overall sentiment likely won’t connect with them. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A well-intentioned but superficial take on Woolf’s famous piece. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-951836-38-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cameron Kids
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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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