Substitute teachers are a rite of passage for students; this narrator’s change of heart provides a good example of handling...
A rough day with a sub slowly improves as the child narrator gets to know her and is introduced to new things.
Each double-page spread is a letter addressed to some aspect of the day: “Dear Substitute, / Wow. This is a surprise. / What are you doing here? / Where’s Mrs. Giordano, / and why didn’t she warn us?” Opposite, Raschka’s watercolor-and-gouache portrait is appropriately grim and forbidding. Other addressees include “attendance” (the sub can’t pronounce some of the names), the homework the narrator labored over (a waste), and the class turtle (it’s “Tank Tuesday,” but it won’t get cleaned today). But after admonishing the narrator for lunch-trading (an allergy risk), the sub gives the class extra storytime, only with “strange little poems” instead of their chapter book. It turns out the narrator loves them, even making one (with the sub’s help) about the turtle, and just like that, the day is turned around. The narrator, depicted as a pale-skinned child with brown pigtails, has a new outlook on subs (and maybe new experiences): “Sometimes you’ve got to / mix things up a little.” Raschka’s characteristically splashy, modern-ish illustrations, while expressive and with colors that match the changing moods, are casually childlike and sometimes hard to decode.
Substitute teachers are a rite of passage for students; this narrator’s change of heart provides a good example of handling it with aplomb. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4847-5022-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A strong, accessible diary story for readers seeking an adorable animal tale.
Bub the anxious pug tackles snow days and new neighbors in his second outing.
Bub, acclaimed by some as “the cutest pug on the planet,” at first shares the enthusiasm owner Bella expresses about snow days even though he doesn’t know what they are. Then Duchess the cat (mildly antagonistic, in typical feline fashion) rains on Bub’s parade by pointing out that snow is water—and Bub’s no fan of rain or baths. After a comedic and disastrous first attempt, Bub learns how to properly dress for snow and enjoy it. The outdoor fun’s cut short by mysterious noises coming from the new neighbor, which frighten Bella into thinking there’s a monster. Bub puts on a Sherlock Holmes get-up to investigate but becomes afraid himself of the new neighbor’s large dog. Finally, Bella meets Jack, who’s been working on a tree fort, and his dog, Luna, who is enthusiastically friendly. The story ends on a positive note, as they all happily work together on the fort. The full-color cartoon illustrations, especially of Bub, are adorably expressive and certain to please the age group. The generous font and format—short, diary-entry paragraphs and speech-bubble conversations—create a quick pace. Bub’s stylized emoji bubbles return and are most hilarious when used to express his nervous flatulence. Bella and Jack both present white.
A strong, accessible diary story for readers seeking an adorable animal tale. (Fantasy. 5-7)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-53006-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Inviting.
A story inspired by a real-life effort to achieve social inclusion.
Rhyming text enriched by energetic, cartoon-style illustrations follows the diverse students in Miss Mellon’s class at recess. Most of the children dive into play with peers, but some feel timid or excluded. Those at play are initially oblivious to the discomfort of the others, but then a child named Jake notices someone using a crutch and hanging back from play. “ ‘It’s my leg,’ said Gabe. ‘I can’t run in a cast, / so I never get picked, not even last.’ ” Affable Jake responds, “Come play with us anyway. There’s time to spare,” causing Gabe to reply, “Wait a minute …I’ll be right there.” This interaction creates a compassionate domino effect of inclusion, with Gabe reaching out to another kid on the sidelines, and so on. When the children (and, oddly, an elephant and dragon) go inside after recess they ask, “how could we say, / without using words, that we all want to play?” Miss Mellon says they need “a seat / to wait for a friend or a buddy to meet.” It’s unfortunate the solution—the eponymous buddy bench—originates with an adult rather than the compassionate children themselves, especially since the author’s note reveals that it was a first grader who proposed the first one in the United States, but the generosity on display is heartening.
Inviting. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-88448-697-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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