An empathetic tale, ideal for helping little ones ride out the storm of turbulent emotions.
Big life changes bring unexpected emotions.
After the protagonist’s best friend, Ana, moves away, the child experiences a whirlwind of feelings. The days seem to stretch on forever, and school feels different. Quietly, the crocodiles arrive. The brown one is loud, leaving overturned toys and household objects in the wake of her tantrums; the gray one’s sobbing fits keep the youngster from reading. Only the child can see them, and though the protagonist attempts to ignore them, they continue to intrude. Finally, on a family vacation, the youngster confronts both crocodiles: The child hugs the gray one (Sadness) and cries with her, then screams with the brown one (Anger) until their rage subsides. Having achieved catharsis, the young narrator feels much better and looks forward to spending a day with Ana in the future. Meza’s straightforward, compassionate text is firmly rooted in children’s natural—at times seemingly irrational—emotions. Created with paper, colored pencil, and Photoshop, her naïve, earth-toned illustrations make use of geometric shapes, complementing the story well. Sharp-eyed readers will spot Sadness and Anger lurking in the background of numerous spreads early on—underscoring the idea that complex feelings are always with us, even if we aren’t consciously aware of them. The protagonist is tan-skinned; other characters vary in skin tone.
An empathetic tale, ideal for helping little ones ride out the storm of turbulent emotions. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593859148
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
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
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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