A playful, empathetic look at a common first childhood experience.
New things can be scary, but they also contain the potential for unexplored fun.
Kayla, who narrates this tale, is thrilled to be visiting the beach. Equipped with a swimming tube shaped like a pink dolphin, the youngster cheerfully bobs in the water until a jagged shell pierces the tube. Kayla’s relegated to the sidelines, but Daddy gently coaxes the child into the water. The waves are rough, but swimming feels less scary when Kayla visualizes the two of them as various aquatic pairs: “You be a rock…and I’ll be a basking seal.” “You be the harbor…and I’ll be a fishing boat.” With more encouragement from Daddy, Kayla grows in confidence and even feels empowered to swim independently in the ocean blue. Following the same family from their previous work, Wild Blue (2023), Slater and Hughes have crafted another lovely look at the unease of trying something unfamiliar—and the joys of finally triumphing. Slater’s lyrical, first-person text centers Kayla’s emotions and sensory experiences (“the deep blue sea touches my toes with frothy fingers”), while Hughes’ expressive acrylic ink illustrations capture the unpredictability of both childhood emotions and of ocean waters with their crashing waves, as well as the gentle stillness that pervades the tale as Kayla enjoys an undersea dive. Kayla and the family are tan-skinned; an older family member uses a cane.
A playful, empathetic look at a common first childhood experience. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781536233377
Page Count: 33
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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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A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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