A universal book that can be used to explain fear to readers and give empathy to those in a new environment.
In this companion to The Journey (2017), Sanna reminds readers that the journey for refugees is far from over even after they find a new home.
Featuring the same black-haired, pale-skinned, refugee family from Sanna’s previous book, this installment follows the daughter of the family of three as she adjusts to life in their new country of residence and tries not to let her fear overcome her. Fear is a secret “tiny friend” first portrayed in a positive light as a factor that has “kept me safe.” But being in a new place is overwhelming, and her fear has grown exponentially, both in size and in stubbornness, preventing the narrator from exploring her new world. Fear brings loneliness, self-doubt, and sleepless nights, but it also causes her to rationalize her solitude, believing that those around her cannot and will not understand or like her. When a friendly boy finally connects with her, the narrator is able to manage her fear and realizes that he and others at school also have their own fears that they must manage. Though the fears are sometimes depicted as large, angry, or apprehensive, they are generally small, smiling, ghostlike creatures that are companions to all. Read without the previous book’s context, there are no cultural markers to indicate the family’s background, just text indicating that the family is in a new country, is learning the language, and that the girl’s teacher has a hard time saying her name. The narrator’s classmates have various skin tones and hair color.
A universal book that can be used to explain fear to readers and give empathy to those in a new environment. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-53-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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
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