This warm, engaging tale depicts what school should be for every child.
In this picture book, a young boy lists the ways that school is special.
As this well-crafted celebration of an ideal school begins, readers ages 5 and up are greeted by a smiling, freckle-faced boy who will take them through the pages to show that “school is more than a building!” All of the adults are friendly and helpful (teachers, a librarian, a nurse, and a janitor). School is a place where “my teacher comforts me when I’m having a bad day,” and “there is always someone who will listen.” School is where the boy can enjoy his friends and learn, get exercise, eat healthy food at lunch, express his creativity and individuality, and feel safe. The playful black font is well spaced and easy to read. Watercolorist Donner’s expert, full-page, cartoon-style illustrations, vivid against the bright, white space, feature characters with different skin tones and adults in a young to older range. (One teacher and child appear to be of Asian heritage, and there are White and Black kids.) Donner is the author/illustrator of several children’s books, including The Day the Lines Changed (2020), about life during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a note here, she explains how school closures highlighted the importance of children being in the classroom for their “health and well-being.” Parents might pair this with Shannon Olsen’s tender picture book, Our Class Is a Family (2020), for similar reassurance about school as a place of acceptance and community.
This warm, engaging tale depicts what school should be for every child.Pub Date: June 15, 2021
ISBN: 9781955698009
Page Count: 36
Publisher: A Little Donnerwetter Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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
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