The book is potentially useful as a discussion starter about feelings, but kids probably won’t demand rereads.
An elementary-age child recounts what she does and feels during a school field trip to a county fair.
Clean, colorful graphic design, first-person narration, and short declarative sentences bode well for the inaugural entry in the Dealing with Feelings series. The narrator is a wide-eyed girl with brown skin and textured, black hair, and her fellow students represent every possible complexion. The teacher is also brown, with straight hair. However, much of the story itself seems contrived to elicit a variety of feelings in the narrator. Would a teacher enter a pie-eating contest while supervising a field trip? Unlikely, but it does give the class a chance to cheer her on. Similarly, a contest to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar gives the narrator a chance to compare her feelings to the rainbow of colors in the jar. When the class stops to purchase treats at a bake sale “to support a good cause,” the heroine can’t indulge because she has allergies. Conveniently, the teacher reveals that she also has allergies. A mindfulness activity on the bus and a review of what produced the child’s positive feelings makes it clear that teaching emotional vocabulary is the book’s primary mission. Even 17 exclamation points can’t make this well-meaning lesson exciting.
The book is potentially useful as a discussion starter about feelings, but kids probably won’t demand rereads. (Early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63565-057-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Rodale Kids
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...
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)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0237-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily.
A group of young “dinosauruses” go out into the world on their own.
A fuchsia little Hugasaurus and her Pappysaur (both of whom resemble Triceratops) have never been apart before, but Hugasaurus happily heads off with lunchbox in hand and “wonder in her heart” to make new friends. The story has a first-day-of-school feeling, but Hugasaurus doesn’t end up in a formal school environment; rather, she finds herself on a playground with other little prehistoric creatures, though no teacher or adult seems to be around. At first, the new friends laugh and play. But Hugasaurus’ pals begin to squabble, and play comes to a halt. As she wonders what to do, a fuzzy platypus playmate asks some wise questions (“What…would your Pappy say to do? / What makes YOU feel better?”), and Hugasaurus decides to give everyone a hug—though she remembers to ask permission first. Slowly, good humor is restored and play begins anew with promises to be slow to anger and, in general, to help create a kinder world. Short rhyming verses occasionally use near rhyme but also include fun pairs like ripples and double-triples. Featuring cozy illustrations of brightly colored creatures, the tale sends a strong message about appropriate and inappropriate ways to resolve conflict, the final pages restating the lesson plainly in a refrain that could become a classroom motto. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Gently models kindness and respect—positive behavior that can be applied daily. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-82869-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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