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TWO OF A KIND

Name: TWO OF A KIND
Author: Jacqui Robbins
ISBN: 978-1-4169-2437-1

by Jacqui Robbins and illustrated by Matt Phelan ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2009

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What makes a true friend? Kayla and Melanie are “two of a kind,” but not in a good way. They stick together, dress the same, exclude others and even mock other girls in the class. Julisa and Anna are buddies, too, but they’re the kind of girls who help others and invite everyone else to play with them at recess. This sweet friendship is threatened when Anna briefly joins the mean girls and ignores her friend. Schoolchildren will nod with recognition and empathy when Anna is torn in two directions and will breathe a sigh of relief when she makes the right decision. This straightforward and familiar situation is made even clearer by Phelan’s expressive watercolor illustrations, in which Kayla and Melanie’s sharp eyebrows let the reader know just what kind of girls they are. Teachers and parents in need of a springboard for discussions of exclusion and social cruelty will find this book very helpful. Julisa and Anna are fine models for young girls looking for guidance in the ways of friendship. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: July 7, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4169-2437-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NEW GIRL...AND ME
by Jacqui Robbins & illustrated by Matt Phelan

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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BECAUSE YOUR DADDY LOVES YOU

by Andrew Clements & illustrated by R.W. Alley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2005

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Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)