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
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
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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