This pleasantly mild hero’s journey is fabulous on the eye, but the narrative speaks more to nostalgic adults than children.
Two children quest while pondering the nature of friendship.
Pizzoli literally frames his story by placing a pair of children onstage, drawing and constructing props together. These pages are steeped in retro aesthetic, all heavily bordered by decorated columns and curtains in persimmon and gold. Likewise the children, a white boy and young girl of color, look nicely vintage too, with large, rounded heads reminiscent of classic characters such as Crockett Johnson’s Harold. After finding magical, Day-Glo orange stars, they exit the constraining stage, at which point their journey turns imaginary, and the illustrations deftly transition to expansive full-bleed spreads. Well-placed orange highlights, such as a luminous boat, guide the children through various adventures, and though these expeditions are undertaken separately, the friends are reassured that when the stars (both metaphorical and of the Day-Glo variety) lead them back together “after such a long, long time,” there will be “a big, long hug.” This narrative that muses about individuality, accepting others, and remaining close to friends is soothing and poetic, with words and phrases used repetitiously throughout. But the formality also feels incongruent with the playful visuals and approaches overt sentimentality: “I’ll turn toward the light, and wave in the darkness to say that I know you.”
This pleasantly mild hero’s journey is fabulous on the eye, but the narrative speaks more to nostalgic adults than children. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4847-5030-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Sure to have little ones giggling.
Jacques is a hedgehog with a big secret: “I wear real, bona fide underwear.”
Our narrator received a mysterious package one day; an illustration shows a pair of underwear tied to a balloon with a note “from the Universe” floating down into Jacques’ burrow. Hedgehogs don’t wear underwear, however. Will Jacques be shunned? Jacques worries but comes to a decision: “I have to wear them. When I do I feel special.” Determined, Jacques, who’s been invited to a party, makes a dramatic entrance, with undies in hand. Jacques’ declaration (“I WEAR UNDERWEAR”) is met with remarks of dismay, before another hedgehog opens up about similar fears and shows off a pair of cowboy boots. More hedgehogs introduce themselves with their own confessions. The story ends with Jacques unveiling a painting of the underwear in a gallery filled with hedgehogs wearing all sorts of attire. Though the book is simple in plot, characters, and setting, it wins in its balance of bathroom humor, dramatic storytelling, and celebrations of individual expression. French words are peppered throughout, adding to the fun without detracting from the story for those unfamiliar with the language. The cartoonish illustrations brim with fun; Valdez relies heavily on geometric shapes (triangle noses for the hedgehogs; huge circles for their eyes). Details such as speech bubbles and recurring turtle and snake characters contribute to the outlandish humor.
Sure to have little ones giggling. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781250814388
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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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