Themes of creativity and inclusion come through strongly in this adventure despite the shifting rhyme scheme.
A boy with cerebral palsy imagines his early childhood classroom as a circus in this sequel.
In narration that sometimes utilizes rhyming stanzas, a boy named Ben, a triplet who uses a wheelchair, describes the fun of going to preschool: “There is SOOO much happening...that sometimes it’s like a CIRCUS.” He envisions his teacher as a ringmaster and a friend and himself as clowns. He transforms into a tiger tamer and a juggler, and his friends take turns clowning and riding elephants. When Ben’s imagination brings him back to his classroom, his teacher reads a picture book about circuses. Ben’s creativity is the focus of Gerlach’s (Ben’s Adventures: Day at the Beach, 2018) story, and many of the rhyming couplets flow smoothly for reading aloud. Yet others have interjected sentences or descriptions with no rhymes. Ben’s wheelchair is obvious in the classroom illustrations, providing a window into a different lifestyle, but it does not appear in the circus scenes, which may confuse young readers. Debut illustrator Hider skillfully replicates the style of the first installment of this picture-book series in her cartoon images of a diverse cast. The author’s choice of making Ben’s next escapade feature war play (which is teased at the end of the story) may be off-putting to some parents.
Themes of creativity and inclusion come through strongly in this adventure despite the shifting rhyme scheme.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73270-342-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: CharleyHouse Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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