A gorgeous celebration of swimming, disability, and imagination.
A child reflects on the joy and freedom of swimming.
On land, the brown-skinned young narrator explains, “I am a rock-star roller who sparkles and zooms and spins” in a manual wheelchair “like a rocket ready to launch into space.” Importantly, the child’s wheelchair is “just as much a part of me as my toes”—a phrase that simultaneously embraces disability and gently reminds readers to respect wheelchair users’ personal space. But underwater, “I am a fish with a body that wriggles in a different way.” Donning goggles and entering a pool, the child imagines being such creatures as “a starfish cartwheeling across a universe” and “a seahorse with shimmering skin and head held high because everyone knows horses are proud.” In the water, the protagonist is “fearless and brave except when I’m not and lose my way in this topsy-turvy world.” Fortunately, the child’s brown-skinned swim therapy coach provides grounding touches and “reminds me to kick. But like the clownfish I am, I add a little flip.” Whether on land or underwater, the child can be “silly and free. Wherever I might be…there is something magical… about a fish like me.” In harmony with Sumner’s rhythmic, lyrical text, Holzwarth’s fluid, dreamy cartoon illustrations immerse readers of all abilities in the imaginative child’s joyful, vibrant underwater world of deep blue waves, iridescent bubbles, and colorful sea creatures. Background characters are racially diverse.
A gorgeous celebration of swimming, disability, and imagination. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781665942577
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
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
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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