by Jane Yolen & Heidi E.Y. Stemple ; illustrated by Kristen Howdeshell & Kevin Howdeshell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 2020
Child-centered, reassuring, and welcome.
Storms can be frightening, but they can also create memorable family times.
Four children describe how they experienced a tornado, a blizzard, a wildfire, and a hurricane with comforting family members. Words and pictures work together to show joyful moments in what might be scary times. The children come from different parts of the country and may have different family structures, but their grown-ups are thoughtful and supportive. During a tornado, a brown-skinned family reads and plays games in the basement with their grandmother. An Asian-American family cooks on a campfire in the fireplace during a blizzard. White children camp with their dad in a field of wildflowers as a fire ranges beyond the mountains across a river. And Black children escape to their cousins’ house and pretend to be in boats during a hurricane. Flashlights are evident. After each storm, a different pleasant activity is recounted—maybe even dancing. “It’s okay to be scared,” one narrator tells readers. “Nature is strong and powerful. / But, I am strong and powerful, too,” adds another. This comforting title is part of a new line of picture books explicitly aimed at helping children feel capable and supported, and it does so perfectly. The repetitive storytelling shows that some things can be predictable amid the unpredictable. Aftermatter adds a paragraph of further information about each of the four storms. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 85.5% of actual size.)
Child-centered, reassuring, and welcome. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22275-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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by Hoda Kotb ; illustrated by Chloe Dominique ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
Pleasant enough but not particularly original.
Uplifting messages of positivity from the Today show anchor.
Hope springs eternal, so the saying goes. Kotb agrees, here delivering to children the cheery news that hope lives inside all of them and that whatever they might wish for can be theirs. All they need is a sunny outlook, and the possibilities for happy outcomes are virtually endless. Children’s dreams can be in-the-moment ones—like purple ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry—or more far-ranging ones, such as growing tall enough to reach that high shelf easily or for hair that’s long enough to braid. It doesn’t matter, the author reassures young readers. Your aspirations will be realized, so don’t give up on them—just keep believing in them and, most of all, in yourself. Throughout, Kotb calls hope a rainbow, a feeling, a gift, and a wish. Hope is “new friends you’ll find— / friends who are loving and funny and kind.” Hope is “practicing your heart out, letter by letter.” The book’s overarching theme is upbeat, but its bouncy rhyming text is clumsy. The child-appealing illustrations are colorful and lively, though they have a generic look. The cast of wide-eyed characters is racially diverse; some have visible disabilities.
Pleasant enough but not particularly original. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593624128
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2024
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static.
In his latest outing, Bear and his pals go in search of eggs.
Bear “lumbers with his friends through the Strawberry Vale.” Raven finds a nest; climbing up, “The bear finds eggs!”: a refrain that appears throughout. Instead of eating the robin’s eggs, however, Bear leaves a gift of dried berries in the nest for the “soon-to-be-chicks.” Next, the friends find 10 mallard eggs (as bright blue as the robin’s), and Bear leaves sunflower seeds. Then the wail of Mama Meadowlark, whose bright yellow undercarriage strikes a warm golden note, leads them to promise to find her lost eggs. With his friends’ assistance, Bear finds one, and they decide to paint them “so they aren’t lost again.” Another is discovered, painted, and placed in Hare’s basket. After hours of persistent searching, Bear suddenly spots the remaining two eggs “in a small patch of clover.” Before they can return these eggs, the chicks hatch and rejoin their mother. Back at his lair, Bear, with his troupe, is visited by all 17 chicks and the robin, mallard, and meadowlark moms: “And the bear finds friends!” Though this sweet spring tale centers on finding and painting eggs, it makes no overt references to Easter. The soft green and blue acrylics, predictable rhymes, and rolling rhythm make this series installment another low-key natural read-aloud.
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936552
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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