Yes, it’s preachy and has a too-easily-come-by resolution, but for too many kids, it’s a necessary lesson, and the rhyme...
Lucia, a yellow llama, is a sore loser and a gloating winner, and when you’re the founder and president of the Get Gaming Club, that’s a real problem.
Lucia’s downturned mouth and body language speak volumes when she spies a new sign outside the GGC meeting place: “Try your best / have lots of fun / smile and shake / when the game is done,” a repeated refrain. “I did not approve this sign,” she grumps. Lucia confronts the club members, a diverse array of anthropomorphic animals, but no one admits the truth: that they all contributed. The angry llama tells those who “have a problem with [her] club” that they “can just leave.” None do, but no one has any fun that day, and the next week, the GGC is empty. Lucia goes home to play her games with Grandpa, but he turns the tables and exhibits the behaviors Lucia is notorious for. Lucia reacts as her GGC friends do, but this time she has a rhyme to teach Grandpa how to be a good sport. At an emergency meeting, Lucia apologizes and recites the new club pledge, which readers will have learned by now. Morea’s simple cartoon illustrations keep the focus on the characters’ interactions and their spot-on facial expressions and body language. The pastel palette does little to advance the mood, but it is sunny.
Yes, it’s preachy and has a too-easily-come-by resolution, but for too many kids, it’s a necessary lesson, and the rhyme will stick with readers. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5158-4028-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Picture Window Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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