Title notwithstanding, not the most welcoming of books.
An energetic series of haiku celebrates the first day of school.
Some describe individuals: “Angelica” is “Like a red rocket / Flashing across a blue sky: / Her hair in the wind” as she runs to catch the bus. Some orient readers to their classrooms: “Name Tags” are “At every desk, / A chair with tennis-ball feet, / A place just for you.” Some capture the experience: In crowded “Hallways,” younger children watch as “A thick herd of cows / Tramples past, smelly and loud. / Fifth graders are tall.” The individual poems’ success as haiku vary. Some, like “Hallways” and “Growing Up,” in which a mother bids goodbye to a fledgling kindergartner as a “small / Bird flies from its nest,” nail the form; others are more patterned, short narratives than anything else. Oddly, for a book that purports welcome, a mean-spirited streak surfaces. Student “Harold” is described thus: “Like a duck, one boy / Waddles down the hall, quacking. / Yikes, he’s in my class!” Another poem celebrates a “Prank,” in which an older child who knows the ways of a particular water fountain “smirks” while turning the knob to splash the face of the unsuspecting younger child. The kid laughs instead of crying, but it feels gratuitous. GrandPré’s busy, colorful paintings use primary colors to render this racially diverse school’s cheerfully chaotic first day.
Title notwithstanding, not the most welcoming of books. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-15588-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...
Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.
Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.
A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0237-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient.
How do you make a new friend when an old one moves away?
Buddy (from Sorry, Grown-Ups, You Can’t Go to School, 2019, etc.) is feeling lonely. His best friend just moved across town. To make matters worse, there is a field trip coming up, and Buddy needs a bus partner. His sister, Lady, has some helpful advice for making a new pal: “You just need to find something you have in common.” Buddy loves the game Robo Chargers and karate. Surely there is someone else who does, too! Unfortunately, there isn’t. However, when a new student arrives (one day later) and asks everyone to call her Sunny instead of Alison, Buddy gets excited. No one uses his given name, either; they just call him Buddy. He secretly whispers his “real, official name” to Sunny at lunch—an indication that a true friendship is being formed. The rest of the story plods merrily along, all pieces falling exactly into place (she even likes Robo Chargers!), accompanied by Bowers’ digital art, a mix of spot art and full-bleed illustrations. Friendship-building can be an emotionally charged event in a child’s life—young readers will certainly see themselves in Buddy’s plight—but, alas, there is not much storytelling magic to be found. Buddy and his family are White, Sunny and Mr. Teacher are Black, and Buddy’s other classmates are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-30709-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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