A reassuring, if not empowering, exploration of the disability experience.
In this follow-up to What Happened to You? (2023), Joe, who’s missing a leg, contends with scrutiny.
Joe is amazing. Everybody says so—whether he’s hanging on the monkey bars, eating ice cream, or even scratching his bottom. Joe thinks that speedy, athletic Simone is amazing, but onlookers only ever compliment Joe. Joe tries to be invisible so that everyone will praise Simone’s moves. But the parent of one of the kids at the park mistakes his hiding for self-pity and cajoles him to run and jump. Reluctantly, Joe complies, “because being Amazing Joe [is] better than being Poor Joe”—a bind that disabled readers in particular will recognize. All readers, however, will sympathize with Joe’s discomfort as playground visitors point and stare. Tired of “The Joe Show,” Joe practices soccer with a pal and experiences something truly amazing: scoring goals after many tries. The authors’ depiction of strangers’ well-meaning yet patronizing behavior, brought to life by George’s expressive cartoon illustrations, is uncomfortably realistic. The only solution that the book offers, however, is for Joe to surround himself with friends who accept him for who he is: “just Joe.” While supportive friends are helpful, disabled readers may desire concrete tips for directly addressing awkward interactions; moreover, the book seems to imply that disabled people must simply learn to put up with condescending remarks. Joe presents white, Simone is brown-skinned, and background characters are racially diverse.
A reassuring, if not empowering, exploration of the disability experience. (authors’ note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780316506571
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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