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OVER IN THE MANGROVES

Name: OVER IN THE MANGROVES
Author: Jyoti Rajan Gopal
ISBN: 9781546103332

by Jyoti Rajan Gopal ; illustrated by Dikshaa Pawaskar ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 15, 2025

Sweetly informative.

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A fun spin on the popular counting rhyme “Over in the Meadow.”

“Over in the mangroves by the river in the sun, / slinks a fierce mama tiger and her little tiger one.” Losing none of the North American original’s sprightly rhythms and upbeat tone, this version shifts settings to the Sundarbans mangrove forest of India and Bangladesh. Ten animal species are introduced, among them pitta birds, crocodiles, and mud lobsters; they all then huddle beneath the overarching mangroves while a storm passes. Though most of the parental caregivers are moms, both the curlew and the seahorse are dads (“Cling, said the papa. / We cling said the nine”); it's a nicely inclusive touch and is also, as Gopal explains in her closing notes, scientifically accurate. Pawaskar gives the animals, even the honeybees and water snakes, engagingly wide googly eyes but otherwise depicts them with reasonable fidelity. In a final wordless spread, all bed down together in their swampy setting, “peaceable kingdom” style. Along with personal notes from the author and illustrator, the backmatter includes more information on each of the animals mentioned and explores the role the mangrove forest plays as both habitat and “climate helper.”

Sweetly informative. (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: July 15, 2025

ISBN: 9781546103332

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

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ARCTIC ADVENTURE
by Jyoti Rajan Gopal ; illustrated by Alexandra Cook

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THE POWER OF YOUR NAME
by Jyoti Rajan Gopal ; illustrated by Olivia Sua

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LOVE IS HERE WITH YOU
by Jyoti Rajan Gopal ; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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THE CRAYONS GO BACK TO SCHOOL

by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2023

Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.

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The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.

Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)