This misses the riotous humor and innocent naughtiness that make Olivia and Eloise such delicious fun.
Emily Pearl, that not-so-helpful but very independent girl, is back in her second outing, this time “helping” at school.
Emily Pearl goes to school and can do lots of things—count to 14, write her name and hit a home run. But as in I Can Do It Myself! (2009), while the gentle rhyming verse brags about all of her accomplishments, Hayashi’s watercolor, pen and colored-pencil illustrations reveal that her efforts are not always successful or welcome. Yes, she can do the monkey bars two at a time, but it involves pushing other kids off. Yes, she can neatly stack the blocks…after she causes her classmates’ creation to tumble. Indeed, she is often the cause of the mishaps and chaos that she is so anxious to help with. While Emily Pearl’s previous outing was charming in its simplicity and its snapshot of a too-true phase in every child’s life, this one is not as successful. Emily Pearl is obviously older and so should be a little more clued-in about the effect her actions have on other people; readers scanning her classmates’ faces will know immediately that Emily is not always appreciated by kids or adults, but those who don’t pay attention to facial expressions and the small details may not get the point of the book at all.
This misses the riotous humor and innocent naughtiness that make Olivia and Eloise such delicious fun. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-56145-630-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
Loewen’s story is a simple snapshot of kindergarten graduation day, and it stays true to form, with Yoshikawa’s artwork resembling photos that might be placed in an album—and the illustrations cheer, a mixed media of saturated color, remarkable depth and joyful expression. The author comfortably captures the hesitations of making the jump from kindergarten to first grade without making a fuss about it, and she makes the prospect something worth the effort. Trepidation aside, this is a reminder of how much fun kindergarten was: your own cubbyhole, the Halloween parade, losing a tooth, “the last time we’ll ever sit criss-cross applesauce together.” But there is also the fledgling’s pleasure at shucking off the past—swabbing the desks, tossing out the stubbiest crayons, taking the pictures off the wall—and surging into the future. Then there is graduation itself: donning the mortarboards, trooping into the auditorium—“Mr. Meyer starts playing a serious song on the piano. It makes me want to cry. It makes me want to march”—which will likely have a few adult readers feeling the same. (Picture book. 4-5)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5807-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
This long-running British series (the first Little Princess book was published in 1986) has been adapted for television there. In this installment, her dad (in a jacket and tie, wearing his crown) has read her a story and is about to turn off the light when the Little Princess shouts, “I WANT MY LIGHT ON!”—with her entire face subsumed into one of those scarlet, tooth-edged mouths. She’s not afraid of the dark but of ghosts. Dad checks under the bed, and General, Admiral, Doctor and Maid assure her there are no ghosts. The Little Princess’s room is a bright yellow, but readers see glimpses of the castle’s arches and stone steps past her doorway—and then there is a little ghost behind her bedpost, with a skeleton toy the shape of Little Princess’s own stuffie. Ghost and Princess scare each other, and he dashes off to his mother, who, as she stirs her pot of frog, worm and spider stew, assures him that there are no such things as little girls.... The pictures are clear, bold and exaggerated to great humorous effect. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7613-6443-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Andersen Press USA
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
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