Children will raise a loud cheer for this morning story.
Each day begins with riotous noise. Listen!
As sunrise’s gentle rays set the landscape ablaze, a new day is ushered in with a harmonious aural feast. Cue the ante-meridiem orchestra for the melodies of birdsong, yawning dogs, buzzing alarm clocks, clicking light switches, gurgling babies, whistling wind, crowing roosters, the cacophony of zooming traffic, and much more. This sweet, simple story will awaken young listeners’ imaginations to a world of early–a.m. wonders. The economic prose, occasionally rendered in rhyme and near rhyme, flows gently and well and will help kids happily recognize what goes on before and after they awaken. The book makes a fine springboard into laptime, classroom, and library-programming activities, as youngsters can be challenged to identify and/or illustrate morning noisemakers they’re familiar with in their homes and neighborhoods. Bold illustrations burst from the pages and are filled with eye-popping pinks, blues, yellows, greens, reds, purples, and other hues; pre-dawn dark colors lighten and dissipate as the day proceeds. People’s skin tones are primarily nonrealistic, though one woman is shown with dark-brown skin. A wonderful image accompanying the charming turn of phrase “Today is a melody still to be written, / today is a tune no one’s heard before” depicts a five-lined “staff” of electric wires with birds resembling musical notes perched upon them.
Children will raise a loud cheer for this morning story. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7993-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Grandma’s lucky to have all these family members, and young readers are even luckier to be invited to this wonderful family...
A fantastic feast unfolds as Grandma’s family gathers at her very small home.
There are “TWO turkeys send[ing] scrumptious smells through the air,” “FOUR pots of hot greens and ham hocks galore.” And that’s just to start. Beyond the food, there are the bearers of all these treats. “SEVEN cool uncles stroll up in a line, / with EIGHT jugs of lemonade, ice-cold and fine.” This rhyming counting book features a large family with brown skin, mostly of the same shade with some slight variations in skin tone but lots of different hairstyles, body types, and looks. The party doesn’t seem to be celebrating any particular holiday, just an excuse for family, neighbors, and friends (there are a few white faces among the friends) to come together and enjoy a multigenerational summer day. But there is a problem accommodating everyone, and one of the “FIFTEEN hungry grandchildren,” a logical little girl with a yellow headband holding back her Afro, has the solution. She suggests using the backyard, and the party moves outside without skipping a beat. There is a great sense of movement and bustle, and Grandma’s cat and dog can be spotted in each double-page spread.
Grandma’s lucky to have all these family members, and young readers are even luckier to be invited to this wonderful family gathering. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-58089-712-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
Though it’s not groundbreaking, this book is bound to please beginning readers with automotive fixations and patience for no...
Fishes of the sea, birds of the air, and critters of the land unite around a single belief: Their cars rock!
Even struggling readers will be challenged to find anything at all difficult in this latest entry in the I Like to Read series. It certainly won’t be the writing, as all pages contain only the words “I like my…car,” the sole textual variation being the color of each vehicle and a single “too.” Nor will they tussle with the plot, such as it is. As readers watch, a series of jaunty animals, each tucked snug behind the wheel of their conveyances (the sole exception being the chauffeured poodle in a limo), declares their fondness for their autos. Saving the book from utter innocuousness is its 1950s-vibed art. The endpapers sport such snazzy accoutrements as fuzzy dice; the style of each car is apt and distinctive; subtle in-jokes (a turtle applies a coat of wax; a pine-shaped air freshener dangles from the shark’s rearview mirror) abound. With each detail, Robertson’s mix of digital and physical art (including an etching press, water-based printing inks, and an onion bag) pays off. As they should, these drivers revel in their cars’ flashy, colorful looks, and they are set against some seriously mod backdrops.
Though it’s not groundbreaking, this book is bound to please beginning readers with automotive fixations and patience for no more than six words to a page. (Picture book/early reader. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3951-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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