The uncomplicated format and artwork make this a sweet mindfulness exercise.
When does a house become a home?
A perky little house is festooned with birds in the morning and stars at night. The window over the pale blue door is as round as the full moon shining brightly in the night sky. The little house is rained upon and snowed upon, and throughout all of this the text refers to it as simply “the house.” Questions prompt readers to talk about the house and what’s around it. But despite the inviting white clapboard siding and the rose tiled roof, the house sits quite alone on its green, flowerless lawn. Round windows, rectangular doors, sunny days, rainy days—nothing seems to be what it takes for the great transformation. Wait, is that a dog? Look, a cat! They’re heading toward the house, and they’re not alone. Five human figures, three tall, two small, and all reminiscent of Playskool toys, enter the house. Soon there are flowerpots by the door, flowers in the garden, and faces smiling through the window—a home! Caldecott and Legacy winner Henkes has put together a charmingly and deceptively simple interactive book that helps young readers identify shapes, delve into the concept of counting, and recognize meteorological phenomena. The soft colors and gentle questions serve to invite participation rather than coerce it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The uncomplicated format and artwork make this a sweet mindfulness exercise. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-309260-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 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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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
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