Much stronger at depicting problem-solving than at reinforcing math concepts.
Peg and Cat, problem-solvers extraordinaire, put their shape-recognition and comparing skills to the test in this second book based on the Peg + Cat TV series.
On the day of the Tallapegga Twenty car race, Peg and Cat find themselves in the junkyard looking for items for their car, Hot-Buttered Lightning.The competition is fierce: a Pirate Mobile, the Teens in their Pizza Mobile, and the Pig in his Triangle Mobile. Peg and Cat are rather daunted and consider giving up, but Ramone is encouraging: “You never solve a problem by giving up. Keep trying your hardest, no matter what.” As the race gets underway, the numbers placed on the cars as they complete each lap give Peg and Cat the opportunity to compare: 6 > 4 > 1, the last being how many laps of the 20 the duo has completed, though for kids old enough to sit through the lengthy text, this seems a rather simplistic math skill to be practicing. Though Peg and Cat’s car isn’t the fastest, MacGuffins arrive to ensure that slow and steady (and determined and creative) wins the race. Illustrations are bright and cartoony, befitting a TV knockoff. Endpapers offer activities for kids to complete (and give away the ending).
Much stronger at depicting problem-solving than at reinforcing math concepts. (Math picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7558-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
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
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Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.
After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.
Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622360
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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