HURRY, LITTLE TORTOISE, TIME FOR SCHOOL!

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HURRY, LITTLE TORTOISE, TIME FOR SCHOOL!

Name: HURRY, LITTLE TORTOISE, TIME FOR SCHOOL!
Author: Carrie Finison
ISBN: 978-0-593-30566-9

by Carrie Finison ; illustrated by Erin Kraan ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 19, 2022

Hurry to read this adorable, delightful twist on a very familiar tale.

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Slow and steady wins the day.

Little Tortoise is thrilled about the first day of school. She’s anxious to be punctual, so she zips along as fast as she can. Might she arrive first? Kids will likely understand right away that tortoises aren’t fast, and the humorous, hyperbolic narration clarifies from the outset that Little Tortoise’s “swiftness” is a product of her own wishful, overexaggerated thinking. Her ambition to be first is dashed quickly when, one by one, various other, genuinely fast animal schoolmates overtake her, leaving her less confident about her place in the school-arrival pecking order. She plods on nevertheless, hoping not to be last. When even Snail outpaces her (albeit on a scooter), Little Tortoise is glum. Then, a very special teacher, who fully empathizes with Little Tortoise’s leisureliness, solves a mutual problem and imparts wisdom. But wait—in a riotous ending, a most unexpected student arrives…late! Children will giggle at this funny story about persistence and trying to do one’s best; they’ll definitely root for Little Tortoise. The humor is amplified by swift pacing, abetted by brisk page turns and snappy, exclamatory sentences. Onomatopoeic words and words occasionally set in large capitals enhance the comedic effect. A plus: Kids may learn a bit about various speedy critters. The colorful illustrations exude liveliness; animal characters are very expressive, especially Little Tortoise, who’s an endearing, self-assured charmer. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Hurry to read this adorable, delightful twist on a very familiar tale. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: July 19, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-30566-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House Studio

Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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LULU & ZOEY
by Carrie Finison ; illustrated by Brittany Jackson

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DON'T HUG DOUG
by Carrie Finison ; illustrated by Daniel Wiseman

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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...

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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 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

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RUBY FINDS A WORRY

From the Big Bright Feelings series

by Tom Percival ; illustrated by Tom Percival ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2019

A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...

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Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.

Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.

A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)