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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on...
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.
This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride.
Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6649-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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