An inventive and empowering read-aloud about careers that should inspire preschoolers.
Careers and the qualities they represent are explored in this debut picture book’s take on the traditional question “What will you be when you grow up?”
On each page of this work, children are encouraged to envision their futures as filled with endless possibilities. In each of the rhythmic stanzas, the narrator repeats the final word in the first three lines (for example, dreams on the opening page) and asks who might embody the actions or qualities mentioned. Then the narrator follows with a command (“Believe,” “Blast off,” “Create”) and the phrase “It could be you!” The second line in most stanzas offers a job title: astronaut, artist, athlete, trucker, and more. But while the various careers will interest young readers, the key features of those occupations—their qualities of resilience and creativity—should capture their imaginations (“Who has keen-design flair, / an artist’s time-to-shine flair, / a sketch-and-then-refine flair? / Create. It could be you!”). Schrauben’s firm beat and repeated phrases allow young lap readers to chime in with adults reading aloud. Veteran illustrator Seal’s soft-edged, cartoonish paintings show a diverse group of children and adults interacting in natural and urban environments. Inclusivity is emphasized throughout, especially on the athlete page, which depicts a wheelchair race. By looking at the careers’ positive traits and phrasing the rhymes to support a “growth mindset” and flexible thinking, the author breathes fresh life into a familiar theme.
An inventive and empowering read-aloud about careers that should inspire preschoolers.Pub Date: April 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73534-513-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cardinal Rule Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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