A fun-filled tale of high jinks and good intentions.
A brilliant plan to start summer early turns into chaos for one young pupil in this humorous debut children’s book.
It’s the last day of school, and Annabelle can’t wait for that bell to ring at 4 o’clock. As she stares at the clock on the wall in her classroom, time is nearly standing still—how is it only 1 o’clock? Then, she has an idea—what happens if she, when the teacher, Miss Fletcher, is tending to the class gerbil, Ed, moves the hands of the clock to hit 4, triggering the bell and the rest of summer? It seems foolproof, but one thing goes wrong for Annabelle as she enacts her plan—she falls off her chair, landing smack on her face and drawing attention to herself from her teacher and the rest of the class. In the laughter and chaos, Ed escapes, sending everyone, including the principal, running through the halls searching for their rodent friend. Once the shenanigans die down and the end of the day arrives (for real), Annabelle’s teacher asks her to stay behind after school. She explains that Annabelle may have wanted to rush the summer, but she won’t see her friends until next year! In her yearning for school to be over, Annabelle didn’t realize this, and she leaves school with a newfound appreciation for all things academic. Most kids (and probably most adults) can certainly relate to Annabelle’s feeling that the last day of school will never end. Pernice captures Annabelle’s precociousness without making it obnoxious—to her, her plan seems foolproof, and it almost is, if not for that meddling gerbil. Through Annabelle’s lesson, readers will learn patience and gratitude. The rhyming sequences make this a fun read, and the vivid animations (also by Pernice) are fantastical and still realistic (especially Annabelle’s poster-filled bedroom). If Annabelle is to have more adventures, readers will assuredly line up for these sunny stories.
A fun-filled tale of high jinks and good intentions.Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2016
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 13
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
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