I WON'T GO WITH STRANGERS

Name: I WON'T GO WITH STRANGERS
Author: Dagmar Geisler
ISBN: 978-1-5107-3534-7

by Dagmar Geisler ; illustrated by Dagmar Geisler ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2018

Addresses a vital topic in a humorous and nonthreatening way and gives readers a way to respond politely but firmly to even...

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This German import teaches readers not to go with strangers.

The opening page consists of the list of people who are allowed to pick Lu up from school. If they’re not on the list or Mama and Papa haven’t told her about it beforehand, she won’t go with them. And Geisler tests the tyke mightily. Lu is stalwart throughout: “I don’t know you, so I won’t go with you!”; “Mama said I should wait.” The imaginative girl considers how one really knows a person. Ms. Smith lives in Lu’s neighborhood, but Lu doesn’t know her first name. Ralph is helping Lu’s dad build a shed, but “Does he wash his own stinky socks?” Then comes a man in a dark car. After it’s started to rain. He claims to know Lu’s mother. He’s the only person who causes Lu to drop her smile, and readers will pick up on that. Lu’s repeated refusals to person after person make for an effective modeling of behavior. Geisler makes her point that you can’t judge people by their appearances when Lu finally leaves with a man in a studded leather jacket and combat boots—her brother Phil. A fill-in-the-blank page at the end allows children and their caregivers to make their own lists. Geisler’s imaginings help lighten the mood of the serious topic; her characters all seem to be white.

Addresses a vital topic in a humorous and nonthreatening way and gives readers a way to respond politely but firmly to even well-meaning adults. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: April 3, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5107-3534-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

- BOOK REVIEW
MY FEELINGS AND ME
by Holde Kreul ; illustrated by Dagmar Geisler

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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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)