A cute story about kindness and self-love for worldly preschoolers.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa suffers an identity crisis in Lovato’s picture book.
Bella the Bell Tower resides in Pisa, where she’s known as the Leaning Tower and is a favorite amongst tourists and residents alike. But when four children criticize her stature and angle, she spends an entire night working hard to correct it. “My columns were GROANING. / My heavy bells SWUNG and / My marble was MOANING.” In the morning, she’s straighter than ever and capable of spotting distant scenery she hadn’t known before, but locals and visitors bemoan the transformation. It isn’t until Mayor Luigi approaches her to talk out her problems and help her find her true beauty once again that Bella is able to set herself to rights by returning to life at an angle. This rhyming picture book from Lovato conveys a welcome message about self-esteem. Its enthusiasm masks a weak narrative hinge, however, as the four bullies who upset Bella make very lukewarm comments that don’t match the vehemence of Bella’s reaction. Still, Luigi’s nuanced understanding of Bella’s sadness carries within it an important lesson about overcoming meanness. Bongini’s vibrant color illustrations bring life to the city of Pisa and are sure to engage young readers interested in Italian culture and travel.
A cute story about kindness and self-love for worldly preschoolers.Pub Date: June 30, 2024
ISBN: 9798987140161
Page Count: 44
Publisher: MB Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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