by Dian Curtis Regan ; illustrated by Robert Neubecker ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2015
The themes of imaginary play and sibling rivalry provide good-natured support for a lighthearted, easy-to-read adventure.
A trip to the moon in search of a neighbor’s lost cat is all in a day’s work for Niko and his crew.
Space hero Niko puts the finishing touches on an elaborate cardboard-and-tape construction on the title page. His mom and dad “let him park his spaceship in the backyard.” When Niko, his dog, Tag, and his co-pilot, Radar (whose robot expressions vary from worried to happy/worried), spot a “lost cat” poster, they blast off to search the moon for the missing feline. But this heroic account has a glitch—Niko’s sister, Posh (who “lives on Planet Home, too”), stows away. The third-person narrative adds to the humor, as Niko’s voice breaks through to declare—erroneously—about Posh: “…she is not in this story.” Neubecker’s illustration shows Niko’s enormous hands in the foreground, trying to block readers’ views of Posh. While Niko and crew search the cratered surface (where a tiny moon creature peers from the edge of the page), Posh strategically deploys Tag’s treats, and readers may anticipate what happens. Eight brief chapters nicely pace the action: “To the Moon!”; “Lost Sister”; “Home in Time for Dinner.” Neubecker’s solid lines and bright colors channel comic-book art, with multiple frames carrying the narrative on several pages.
The themes of imaginary play and sibling rivalry provide good-natured support for a lighthearted, easy-to-read adventure. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59078-955-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Chloe Dominique ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Pleasant enough but not particularly original.
Uplifting messages of positivity from the Today show anchor.
Hope springs eternal, so the saying goes. Kotb agrees, here delivering to children the cheery news that hope lives inside all of them and that whatever they might wish for can be theirs. All they need is a sunny outlook, and the possibilities for happy outcomes are virtually endless. Children’s dreams can be in-the-moment ones—like purple ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry—or more far-ranging ones, such as growing tall enough to reach that high shelf easily or for hair that’s long enough to braid. It doesn’t matter, the author reassures young readers. Your aspirations will be realized, so don’t give up on them—just keep believing in them and, most of all, in yourself. Throughout, Kotb calls hope a rainbow, a feeling, a gift, and a wish. Hope is “new friends you’ll find— / friends who are loving and funny and kind.” Hope is “practicing your heart out, letter by letter.” The book’s overarching theme is upbeat, but its bouncy rhyming text is clumsy. The child-appealing illustrations are colorful and lively, though they have a generic look. The cast of wide-eyed characters is racially diverse; some have visible disabilities.
Pleasant enough but not particularly original. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624128
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Suzie Mason
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...
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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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings
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