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OLD TRACKS, NEW TRICKS

A jaunty rhyme and inventive toys-come-to-life spin on challenging the status quo, with especial appeal to fans of all...

Three sections of wooden train tracks inspire new ideas and fun.

Trixie, Tracky, and Tinker sit in the $1 replacement-track bin, longing to be part of a complete train set. In order to stand out, they stack themselves in twisty ways. A little white boy notices their tricks and brings them home. Now they are finally part of a set! However, their excitement fades when brash, bossy trains start barking orders. “THAT’S ENOUGH! / We trains are here to puff and chuff. / You tracks are supposed to be in line. / Where’s our railway? It’s half past nine!” The tracks quickly snap into place, but it’s really dreary being stuck in the same spot all of the time. They need to shake things up! Photographs of wooden track pieces, digitally collaged with expressive eyes and mouths, populate the pages. Stacked together with other blocks, covered in foil, with marker inked details, or glowing under a black light, Trixie, Tracky, and Tinker show the older tracks creative ways to have fun. Even the grumpy trains—in a most prescriptive lesson—learn new tricks. “Spec-track-ular” train track tips and activities are appended.

A jaunty rhyme and inventive toys-come-to-life spin on challenging the status quo, with especial appeal to fans of all things Thomas. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 14, 2017

ISBN: 978-1943147-23-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: The Innovation Press

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

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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IMANI'S MOON

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Mackinac Island Press

Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014

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