This quirky kid and his loving family will instantly endear themselves to readers.
A little boy has a big decision to make when asked to be in his cousin’s wedding.
In a story in which all key characters are depicted as people of color with brown skin and varied hair textures, Jameson is a brown boy who loves his green pants. He wears them daily and resists others’ attempts to get him to wear pants of different colors. Softly textured watercolor-and-pencil illustrations inject humor into his resistance by showing Jameson throwing pants of various hues out the window, depicting a dog with red pants on its hind legs, and showing a pair of blue pants flying atop a flag pole. But Jameson’s devotion to his green pants (which make him feel that he “could do anything”) creates conflict when his cousin’s fiancee, Jo, whom Jameson adores, asks him to be in their wedding. He agrees but is aghast when his mother explains he must wear a tuxedo with black pants. He agonizes over the decision until the wedding day, when he sees Jo at the church, and his devotion to her overrides his attachment to green pants. It’s a glorious day with a satisfying ending that shows Jameson stripping off his black tuxedo pants to reveal green ones before he tears up the dance floor. Kraegel’s text displays deep respect for both children’s quirks and their right to those quirks, Jameson’s mother over and over reinforcing for him that the decision (be in the wedding with black pants or in the congregation with green ones) is his.
This quirky kid and his loving family will instantly endear themselves to readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8840-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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
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