Better than a bottle of glitter soda.
Unicorns Kevin and Eric decide not to be B(U)FFs.
In this worthy follow-up to the excellent It’s Not All Rainbows (2019), Kevin is excited when he finds out that a new unicorn is moving in next door. Kevin is a “magical friend-making machine,” and he just knows that this unicorn will be a perfect best friend. Kevin imagines all kinds of adventures with his new bestie, with a featureless cardboard-corn standing in for a real unicorn, and when Eric meets Kevin, he’s equally enthusiastic about immediately cementing their bond. But tension arises when Kevin finds out that Eric prefers clam juice to glitter soda and when Eric discovers that his new “BEST best friend” doesn’t like camping. After a few other attempts, the two unicorns realize that not everyone is destined to be best friends, so “instead of trying to force a friendship, Eric and Kevin decided just to be friendly.” As its predecessor did, this chipper story uses bright, goofy, cotton-candy–toned art with tons of kid appeal to get to a complex, important, and too-little-seen message. It’s slightly misleading to suggest that emotional connections need to rely on shared activities, but for children struggling to figure out how to appropriately navigate relationships—or kids who just want a fun story with raucous pictures—this will be a hit. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 19% of actual size.)
Better than a bottle of glitter soda. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984814-80-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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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