An entertaining and effective aquatic tale that emphasizes the importance of environmental efforts.
Mermaids and humans decide to clean up the ocean in this picture book.
White mermaids Sara, Alix, and Lucy are disturbed that trash accumulates in their beloved undersea home. A sharp, plastic bottle injures their fish friend Fin, and Sally, a seal, almost eats a plastic bag. Sara nearly chokes “on an old fishing lure” while swimming to shore, where she meets Beth, a medium-brown-skinned, dark-haired girl, who explains that she and her friends are cleaning up the coast. Sara proposes that the mermaids “grab the garbage from the sea” and take it to Beth and her crew to “dispose of it properly.” The mermaids sweep for trash and help animals “entangled in debris.” A week later, they offer the crew “over one hundred bins.” The mermaids and the crew plan to continue their efforts. Lucy concludes: “Together, we can create a solution. Our planet should be free from this endless pollution.” Delivering friendly characters and relatable examples, Mancuso’s tale addresses the dangers of ocean pollution in an accessible way. The mermaids’ and crew’s dedication here will inspire youngsters to take action. Guidi’s charming, colorful illustrations supplement the text nicely. They include lovely elements like calm seas and undersea depictions of sweet-looking animals and pleasant characters with large, expressive eyes. The images feature striking scenarios, as when a mermaid frees a fish trapped in plastic rings. Signs on the beach boast slogans like “POLLUTED WATER H2-OH NO.”
An entertaining and effective aquatic tale that emphasizes the importance of environmental efforts.Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64-543671-3
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Mascot Books
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Sylvester's "only chance of becoming himself again was for someone to find the red pebble and to wish that the rock next to it would be a donkey"—surely the prize predicament of the year and, in William Steig's pearly colors, one of the prettiest. How Mother and Father Duncan (donkey), despairing of finding their son, do eventually break the red pebble's spell and bring back Sylvester is a fable of happy families of all breeds.
Pub Date: March 1, 1969
ISBN: 1416902066
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Windmill Books
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1969
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