Instructional without being soporific; a useful discussion-starter about screen addiction for kids.
Carr makes a case for active play in this children’s picture book.
The author advocates limiting screen time: “I know it’s hard to turn screens off. You see, they’re made that way/ they’re really irresistible; your brain says, ‘Stay all day!’” Screens “get your brain excited,” but also can provide too much stimulation; a child in a dark room glows and smiles while looking at a flashing device, but scowls in a dark corner after the device disappears. Though there might be times you “use screens more, like when you’re feeling sick,” and screens can be useful for grown-ups (an image shows a doctor with an X-ray), the text encourages children to find as many other things to do as possible. Sinclair’s detailed digital cartoon illustrations show children of a variety of racial backgrounds, abilities, and skin tones, basking in the glow of handheld devices and playing outdoors in sandboxes, playgrounds, parks, and next to brownstones on city streets. Though didactic, this rhyming, well-illustrated book is a useful classroom tool for initiating conversations about screen habits and presenting ideas for alternative activities—especially for children whose young lives from 2020 to 2021 were spent largely in the company of digital devices.
Instructional without being soporific; a useful discussion-starter about screen addiction for kids.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 979-8-9886425-0-3
Page Count: -
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.
Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.
Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665954785
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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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