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THE CAN DO DUCK

A STORY ABOUT BELIEVING IN YOURSELF

Positive advice for helping kids set and meet personal goals.

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A duckling is afraid to try new things but learns how to make plans in this children’s picture book.

Little One, a newly hatched duck, lacks the courage to attempt things it's never done, including walking and swimming. Its mother points out advantages of learning new skills, and teaches Little One a simple method: “First say, I can. / Then make a plan. / Get right to it. / And then you’ll do it!” Every time, Little One discovers that when it envisions success and imagines fun, it’s easy to learn to walk, swim, and fly—even if it takes a few tries. Little One goes on to attempt horseback riding and ice skating as well as new languages and earns a new name: “Can Do.” The text is by child psychiatrist Morty Sosland (Can Do and Friends to the Rescue, 2013, etc.); Esther Deblinger (Trauma-Focused CBT for Children and Adolescents, 2019, etc.), his wife, is a clinical psychologist who contributes teacher and parent guidelines for using the book. Many kids need help tackling new challenges, and the book provides helpful modeling of a process for planning, visualizing, and achieving success in kid-friendly language. The appealing illustrations by Sarah Sosland have cartoony charm, nicely capturing Can Do’s activities and expressions, as when the duck is determined to learn to fly.

Positive advice for helping kids set and meet personal goals.

Pub Date: May 1, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-9768384-4-9

Page Count: 34

Publisher: Self

Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020

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TALES FOR VERY PICKY EATERS

Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)

Pub Date: May 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011

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CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

A nice but not requisite purchase.

A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.

Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.

A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

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