An enlightening and educational tale of self-discovery.
A girl with quadriplegia shows off her impressive versatility in Wyman’s middle-grade chapter book.
Louisa Duvall is almost 12 years old and nervous about starting a new summer camp where she doesn’t know anyone. As a girl who uses a wheelchair for mobility, she’s grown used to stares and whispers—but it still hurts when one especially mean girl dismisses her (“Go away. We don’t talk to defectives”). While an upset Louisa is inclined to agree with that callous description, her mother encourages her to think about the most important thing she’s done at the end of each day. Her first opportunity comes when Louisa’s younger brother Drew is desperate to buy a video game. He’s short on funds, so Louisa suggests he sell some of his toys. As the week goes on, she also helps her same-aged neighbor, an elderly lady at the grocery store, and a lost little girl. Louisa may have physical disabilities, but she proves herself “superabled” in so many ways when selflessly coming to the aid of others. Wyman’s charming story is chock-full of teachable moments regarding empathy; Louisa sympathizes with a person ignored by most other people (which Louisa occasionally experiences herself) and deals with someone who thoughtlessly (not maliciously) underestimates her abilities. Though the eponymous tween’s personal goal fuels the narrative, the cast of supporting characters and their relationships add plenty of depth. (Drew hilariously keeps his money in an empty shampoo bottle that he marks as “poison,” andthere’s also the possibility that one boy Louisa knows “like-likes” her.) Leisha Wyman’s cartoon-style artwork delivers such memorable images as a lopsided backyard fort and Louisa’s large, expressive eyes. Supplementary materials at the book’s end cover each chapter, posing discussion questions, defining some big words (including a few that don’t appear in the story), and providing space for readers to jot down their own thoughts.
An enlightening and educational tale of self-discovery.Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781948575775
Page Count: -
Publisher: iPub Cloud International
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.
Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.
Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.
More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781464268076
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
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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