Share this one with kids who have very particular tastes.
On his first day of school, a boy uses his favorite thing in the world to make new friends.
Teddy loves three things: his red cape, his yellow rain boots, and spaghetti, which he could eat all day. Teddy isn’t exactly finicky; he likes “spaghetti with red sauce and meatballs…with white sauce with clams…or even with eggs and bacon!” But today the ordinarily happy kid is feeling a bit unnerved: It’s his first day of school. Mom encourages him to just be himself, and by doing so, he quickly gains new friends. But at lunch, the school bully approaches, hurling the titular epithet. Teddy freezes, but his new friends don’t; they are full of compliments for Teddy’s warm, fabulous spaghetti lunch. Teddy invites them to dig in—there’s plenty. And when Bryan the bully asks in a whisper if he might have some, Teddy even shares with him and tells him he loves his new nickname. In Andriani’s cartoon illustrations, the expressive faces and, appropriately, the spaghetti are especial delights. Teddy and his mother have light skin; his classroom is diverse. This mother-daughter collaboration is sweet but slight and unrealistic. With food allergies on the rise, many schools have banned food sharing, and the ease with which the kids deal with the bully is unbelievable. Moreover, while food-shaming is a depressingly common phenomenon, it is rarely the white kid with spaghetti and marinara sauce who is the target.
Share this one with kids who have very particular tastes. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-291542-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Leave this on the shelf and take the kids outside to really move.
An interactive board book promises a variety of experiences.
A book that gets kids up and moving sounds like a great idea. The half-circle cutout of the spine and large handle formed by another die cut on the right side are intriguing. Unfortunately, the rhyming instructions for using the book as an exercise prop are confusing. Even adults will find themselves puzzled when told to “paddle the floor,” or to “hang on the handles. Step over the book. / You're a turtle in its shell! Go peek out and look.” The busy pictures shift perspective according to each scenario presented but give few visual clues. For example, the only hint of a dinosaur on the page where readers are told to “put this book to your mouth and let out a roar” like a dinosaur are the teeth that line the edges of what is meant to be a gaping maw. It’s not always obvious whether the book is meant to be facing readers or turned away from them, adding another layer of confusion. Furthermore, many of the instructions run counter to how young children are typically taught to treat books, as when they are told to step on it and then waddle or to lift it with their feet. The relatively thin board pages and weak handles will soon be torn by normal handling; following the directions in the text will only hasten the destruction.
Leave this on the shelf and take the kids outside to really move. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7611-8733-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
A bedtime read-aloud that young kids and caregivers will have a ball with.
Everybody needs a bath sometimes, even hippos! But how do they manage it?
McMullan offers a rhyming bathtime book that looks at all the different ways our animal friends keep themselves clean. From kittens licking themselves to monkey mamas combing through fur, all animals approach their cleaning routines differently. But what about those lovable little humans in our lives? They can’t let fish nibble on them as turtles do or wallow in mud with the piggies! Kids will enjoy seeing pictures of animal favorites getting clean, but they will really laugh as they see children trying to bathe themselves in the same ways as their animal counterparts. Three different children are portrayed, of different gender and race presentations, giving many kids the opportunity to see themselves in the pages. The illustrations are bright, with a cartoonish feel to them, showing not only different animals, but their habitats as well. Both the animals and children are delightfully expressive, which brings everything to life. The rhymes sometimes feel a little clunky, but that’s a small quibble in an otherwise charming book.
A bedtime read-aloud that young kids and caregivers will have a ball with. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6517-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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