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MINH AND THE MAGIC GRAINS OF RICE

Name: MINH AND THE MAGIC GRAINS OF RICE
Author: Đỗ Nguyệt Hà
ISBN: 9781797213330

by Đỗ Nguyệt Hà ; illustrated by Lê Phương Quỳnh ; translated by Bac H. Tran ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 20, 2025

Solid info and cute characters help this primer on rice go down easy.

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In this Vietnamese import, an ungrateful boy is transported to a magical land where human-size grains of rice teach him the importance of this staple food.

One evening, Minh refuses to eat his rice and even accidentally knocks a bowl of the food to the ground during a tantrum. Afterward, he sees three grains of rice stand up and dust themselves off. “We don’t deserve this. Let’s go!” one of them says. Minh follows them into the bushes. On the other side, he discovers a wondrous landscape: a sunny day with clouds and mountains, fantastical trees, and human-size rice grains fully clothed in traditional Vietnamese outfits. One of the grains recounts the legend of the Creator and the Pearly Grain, then tells Minh that to return home, he must find the Pearly Grain by sowing a rice crop. Minh spends time helping both rice and human characters sow, tend, harvest, and dry the crop, learning much in the process. Finally, the Pearly Grain appears from a sack of glowing rice grains, and Minh crawls back through the hedges to arrive home, hungry and grateful for his bowl of rice. Some of the dialogue is awkward, and the lesson feels a bit heavy-handed at times. Still, the information is sound, and the digitally rendered cartoon art is engaging, relying on colorful yet muted tones and incorporating fantastical landscapes and kawaii characters.

Solid info and cute characters help this primer on rice go down easy. (information about rice and Vietnamese culture) (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: May 20, 2025

ISBN: 9781797213330

Page Count: 52

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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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)

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)