One needn’t imagine there are better books about using the imagination.
What to do when imagination fails on a rainy, indoor-play day?
That’s the dilemma Olive faces when her best pal, stuffed-toy-owl Hoot, can’t enter her flights of fancy when she wants to play pretend. Is Hoot’s imagination lost, broken, jumbled, gone? Olive proposes inventive scenarios the pair can enact—their house floating away, a lurking giant, fairies in the cellar. She offers Hoot a colander (as an “antenna” to unscramble mixed signals) and poufy earmuffs (to prevent “leaks”). Nothing works. When a dejected Hoot mentions his heart hurts, there’s an aha moment: Olive remembers one must use the heart to imagine. Hoot does, and an imaginative play day ensues. In an aw-shucks ending, Hoot suggests he and Olive imagine being friends forever. The premise positions literal-minded Hoot as “broken” and inferior, a troubling notion that the obscure assurance that imagination springs from the heart does not dispel. Furthermore, readers will recognize that Olive and Hoot are already besties, so they won’t see the need for them to imagine continuing their friendship. Overall, the amusing, energetic pen-and-ink–and-watercolor illustrations fare better than the thin, unengaging text. Olive and Hoot are endearing, though Olive (who presents white) isn’t very expressive. A variety of perspectives throughout and lots of white space focus readers’ eyes on the protagonists.
One needn’t imagine there are better books about using the imagination. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-31455-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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