The twist at the end is both humorous and instructional; adults will hope children see and heed its message.
The monkey cage’s change of venue—to a spot near the picnic area—causes its inhabitants to learn human manners, but some just can’t stand for that.
The young monkeys are fascinated by the children outside their cage. And they quickly pick up on the ways the kids and parents interact. It’s not long before the monkeys are chewing with their mouths closed, taking turns, playing quietly, and tidying up. This drives their exasperated mother bananas: “TRY TO BEHAVE LIKE MONKEYS!” But each time they try to make her happy, they are deprived of watching the children’s antics; the fascinated kids either stop to watch the monkeys or the monkeys lose their concentration. But one day, a wild group of children visits the zoo. They are mystified by the unmonkeylike behavior of the monkeys and set out to show them what to do. When the zookeeper sees this, she understands she’s made a terrible mistake. Readers will expect her to move the monkey cage back to its original location, but her solution will have parents nodding in understanding and spark children’s laughter. Huyck’s digitally colored pencil illustrations play up the humor of the monkeys’ well-mannered behavior, and small details add to the fun—look for the monkey with a banana-peel tie and an age-old joke. The families are nicely diverse, and the zookeeper is a middle-aged white woman with a gray ponytail.
The twist at the end is both humorous and instructional; adults will hope children see and heed its message. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77138-051-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A disappointing follow-up.
Inventor Izzy Gizmo is back in this sequel to her eponymous debut (2017).
While busily inventing one day, Izzy receives an invitation from the Genius Guild to their annual convention. Though Izzy’s “inventions…don’t always work,” Grandpa (apparently her sole caregiver) encourages her to go. The next day they undertake a long journey “over fields, hills, and waves” and “mile after mile” to isolated Technoff Isle. There, Izzy finds she must compete against four other kids to create the most impressive machine. The colorful, detail-rich illustrations chronicle how poor Izzy is thwarted at every turn by Abi von Lavish, a Veruca Salt–esque character who takes all the supplies for herself. But when Abi abandons her project, Izzy salvages the pieces and decides to take Grandpa’s advice to create a machine that “can really be put to good use.” A frustrated Izzy’s impatience with a friend almost foils her chance at the prize, but all’s well that ends well. There’s much to like: Brown-skinned inventor girl Izzy is an appealing character, it’s great to see a nurturing brown-skinned male caregiver, the idea of an “Invention Convention” is fun, and a sustainable-energy invention is laudable. However, these elements don’t make up for rhymes that often feel forced and a lackluster story.
A disappointing follow-up. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-164-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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