Everyone’s indeed a winner here, and the subtle message about safety consciousness is likewise right on track.
A battered old tricycle and a new bike make friends—but not without hitting a few bumps in the road.
Lulu and Trike have been together for years…but Lulu keeps getting bigger, and one day a brand-new birthday bike sails into the garage: “Watch this trick,” he crows, popping a wheelie and zooming through Hula Hoop. Ignoring Trike’s cautions about safety (“Aw, back off, old-timer”), Bike proposes a riderless race to the nearby woods. And so they’re off, with Trike struggling to keep up (“You can DO this,” he tells himself, “for Lulu and the way the two of us flew”). Then, seeing Bike careening heedlessly toward a cliff, Trike selflessly puts on an extra burst of speed to head off disaster with a mighty collision. “I guess I have a lot to learn,” says penitent Bike, and back to the garage they go, “two winners on wheels.” Verdick tells the tale in a characteristic mix of exuberant sound effects and euphonic phrasing, with short sentences making the relatively high page count fly. Along with kitting out shiny Bike with splendid streamers, lights, training wheels, and even a horn, Biggs pairs Lulu at the end with an equally thrilled little brother (both white) just the right size for a hand-me-down.
Everyone’s indeed a winner here, and the subtle message about safety consciousness is likewise right on track. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1517-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
A straightforward, effective approach to helping children cope with one of life’s commonplace yet emotionally fraught...
A child struggles with the worry and anxiety that come with an unexpected problem.
In a wonderful balance of text and pictures, the team responsible for What Do You Do With an Idea (2014) returns with another book inspiring children to feel good about themselves. A child frets about a problem that won’t go away: “I wished it would just disappear. I tried everything I could to hide from it. I even found ways to disguise myself. But it still found me.” The spare, direct narrative is accompanied by soft gray illustrations in pencil and watercolor. The sepia-toned figure of the child is set apart from the background and surrounded by lots of white space, visually isolating the problem, which is depicted as a purple storm cloud looming overhead. Color is added bit by bit as the storm cloud grows and its color becomes more saturated. With a backpack and umbrella, the child tries to escape the problem while the storm swirls, awash with compass points scattered across the pages. The pages brighten into splashes of yellow as the child decides to tackle the problem head-on and finds that it holds promise for unlooked-for opportunity.
A straightforward, effective approach to helping children cope with one of life’s commonplace yet emotionally fraught situations, this belongs on the shelf alongside Molly Bang’s Sophie books. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-943-20000-9
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
This tale of an aspiring librarian is ideal for all kinds of storytimes.
A vocal girl finds her vocation.
A diverse class of 12 youngsters finds out that Penelope, a Black girl with glasses and a barrette, will be the next student-librarian. Her classmate Angela, who drew a “Quiet Please” sign in anticipation, looks horrified by this choice, an interesting hint at conflict that goes unaddressed. Penelope has practiced for this role all year, working on her alphabetization skills and cementing her status as a book lover. Unfortunately, she also has a shockingly loud voice and struggles with impulse control, and her brief stint in the library is marked by fallen books, startled students, and a sudden domino effect when shock waves from her voice knock over an entire bookshelf. Penelope decides that her skills are better spent in outdoor storytime, and the book indicates that she keeps trying in the library. In real life, children’s and elementary school libraries usually aren’t as quiet as adult spaces, and this book could bolster the stereotype of the ideal librarian as sedate and shush-y. It’s also unclear whether Paige Turner Library is connected to Penelope’s school or a stand-alone building, raising some logistical questions. But this would be fun to read aloud, especially to a group of library lovers, and the bright, blocky illustrations are pitch-perfect for the tone. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This tale of an aspiring librarian is ideal for all kinds of storytimes. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781665910545
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2023
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