An energetic and engaging tale that introduces French phrases to English speakers.
In Joannides’ illustrated children’s book, an adventuresome brother-sister duo learns French while helping a lost flamingo find his way to a shrimp festival.
Meli and Mac, two pale-skinned, English-speaking siblings, plan to travel with their family to France. One day, bored of studying French, Mac proposes that they go on one of their signature expeditions. The pair pack up and head to Serendipity Forest and up a tree, where they encounter a “very chic but weary looking flamingo” from France. The flamingo, Freddie, got lost on his way to a “Shrimp Extravaganza”—the biggest shrimp-eating festival for flamingos—because he struggled to read the English on the road signs. He’s been flying for days with no shrimp or algae to give his feathers their signature pink hue. Meli and Mac decide to help him and, armed with their “magic map,” they make it to his destination. The siblings enjoy themselves at the festival, catching shrimp for Freddie before they return home, where Mac resumes studying French. Joannides’ text is lively and entertaining with a clear storyline that young readers will enjoy. Ende’s full-color, painterly illustrations add to the story, and French phrases are peppered throughout with footnoted translations to encourage youngsters to learn new words. One drawback is that the focus on the French language may somewhat limit its accessibility for readers who are unfamiliar with French pronunciation. However, the book’s focus on the importance of multilingualism for cultural understanding is one that many will find refreshing.
An energetic and engaging tale that introduces French phrases to English speakers.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9781839527265
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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