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MAX ARCHER KID DETECTIVE: THE CASE OF THE WET BED

Max relates to Billy’s issue of often waking up in a wet bed; he did not outgrow bedwetting until he “was eleven years old!”...

Max is a detective who likes to “help kids with their problems”—this case takes on bedwetting.

Max relates to Billy’s issue of often waking up in a wet bed; he did not outgrow bedwetting until he “was eleven years old!” The fictional story allows Max to carefully take Billy and readers through this easy-to-read informational book about how to stay dry at night. Bennett strikes the right balance between story and self-help to provide a title whose tone and careful explanations both parents and kids will appreciate. The book puts the problem in context: “five million kids in the United States…go to bed…not knowing if they will wake up wet or dry.” What follows is a clear plan ably complemented by Gerrell’s superb cartoon illustrations of Max and Billy on the case as they investigate the digestive system, how a bladder works and ways to better signal the brain to get up and go. At the back of the book there is extra information about pooping and its impact on bedwetting, a word search about proper foods to eat and a “Q&A About Bedwetting (Just for Parents!)”

Pub Date: May 15, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-4338-0953-8

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011

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HOW DO DINOSAURS SHOW GOOD MANNERS?

From the How Do Dinosaurs…? series

Formulaic but not stale…even if it does mine previous topical material rather than expand it.

A guide to better behavior—at home, on the playground, in class, and in the library.

Serving as a sort of overview for the series’ 12 previous exercises in behavior modeling, this latest outing opens with a set of badly behaving dinos, identified in an endpaper key and also inconspicuously in situ. Per series formula, these are paired to leading questions like “Does she spit out her broccoli onto the floor? / Does he shout ‘I hate meat loaf!’ while slamming the door?” (Choruses of “NO!” from young audiences are welcome.) Midway through, the tone changes (“No, dinosaurs don’t”), and good examples follow to the tune of positive declarative sentences: “They wipe up the tables and vacuum the floors. / They share all the books and they never slam doors,” etc. Teague’s customary, humongous prehistoric crew, all depicted in exact detail and with wildly flashy coloration, fill both their spreads and their human-scale scenes as their human parents—no same-sex couples but some are racially mixed, and in one the man’s the cook—join a similarly diverse set of sibs and other children in either disapprobation or approving smiles. All in all, it’s a well-tested mix of oblique and prescriptive approaches to proper behavior as well as a lighthearted way to play up the use of “please,” “thank you,” and even “I’ll help when you’re hurt.”

Formulaic but not stale…even if it does mine previous topical material rather than expand it. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-338-36334-0

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020

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MIMI'S VILLAGE

AND HOW BASIC HEALTH CARE TRANSFORMED IT

From the CitizenKid series

Readers will take much away from this, including an appreciation for their health-care resources and a desire to make a...

This entry in the CitizenKid series successfully conveys to readers both the importance of health care/disease prevention and the limited availability of these in the third world.

The fortunate good health of Mimi’s family is threatened after a forbidden sip of stream water sickens her little sister. An hour-long walk to the clinic in the next village brings improved health to Nakkissi, vaccinations to all three children and a dream to Mimi of building a clinic in their own village. Determination and cooperation pay off three months later when Nurse Tela makes the first of her bi-weekly visits to dispense health care and instruction in hygiene, nutrition and the use of bed nets to prevent malaria. Backmatter introduces readers to a real "Nurse Tela" working in Zambia, details why basic health care is so important, and gives readers ideas on how they can make a difference. Fernandes’ folk-art–style acrylic artwork is rich in patterns and beautifully portrays both village life and the Kenyan landscape. She skillfully uses the juxtaposition of foreground and background to match the illustrations with the extensive text, as when a leopard and hyena menacingly wait outside the hut where the family gathers around the ill child. 

Readers will take much away from this, including an appreciation for their health-care resources and a desire to make a difference in the world. (map, glossary) (Picture book. 6-10)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-55453-722-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Kids Can

Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012

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