A sweet introduction to yoga and self-care for adults to use with the very young.
Bear makes her way through the forest, learning yoga poses from friends and inviting readers to practice them too.
When Bear wakes up yawning from a “long, deep sleep,” Rabbit shows her a pose to help her to feel more awake. Bear feels more awake, but she’s still “a little grouchy,” so Bird shows her a pose to make her feel happier. Bear needs a stretch and then a plan, and then to look for some food; later, she needs to stand still, to be grateful, and to calm down. All along the way, from the beginning of her day until night, she encounters friends who model what they do to achieve the states of mind or physical feelings they seek. Each spread shows Bear encountering a friend with a need and copying the friend’s suggestion, and it ends with a panel titled “Can you do it, too?” which shows a human child practicing the pose, with clear, step-by-step instructions. The book works both as a story and as an instructional manual for the mind-body connection sought in yoga. The illustrations are child friendly, but the book will work best when shared by an adult who is already familiar with the poses. A final spread lists the physical and emotional benefits of each pose.
A sweet introduction to yoga and self-care for adults to use with the very young. (Picture book. 3-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68464-087-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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