An accessible text and a desire for puddle adventures make this an outstanding preschool pick.
A child struggles with the right timing for playing in a puddle in this humorous picture book.
A girl who appears to be in preschool or kindergarten is thrilled when the school sandbox is filled with water. “I want to jump in!” she cries. But she quickly realizes that cavorting in the tempting puddle would make her teachers and parents upset. The next day, the sandbox has dried out—the marvelous puddle is gone. Luckily, just as buses arrive, rain starts to fall, and when the girl asks permission to play in the new puddles, her parents provide boots, a raincoat, and an umbrella. For any child who has wanted to jump in a muddy puddle at school, the compulsion will be immediately recognizable. Using simple words and lines, with some rhymes in the text and repeated phrases, Nearchou creates a narrative at the perfect level for emergent readers. Everett’s digital cartoon illustrations have soft edges and child characters with huge eyes, warm expressions, and skin tones in many different hues. Much of the storytelling happens in the details the illustrator creates, including the girl’s vividly imagined scenes and the cloudy skies that roll in as kids play on swings. Young readers will use the images to help decipher the text or just fill in their own memories of playground escapades.
An accessible text and a desire for puddle adventures make this an outstanding preschool pick.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-03-910073-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
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Another Seuss-chimera joins the ranks of the unforgettable Herlar and with the advent of the Grinch— a sort of Yule Ghoul who lives in a cave just north of who-ville. While all the Who's made ready on Christmas Eve the Grinch donned a Santa-Claus disguise. In gurgling verse at a galloping gait, we learn how the Grinch stole the "presents, the ribbons, the wrappings, the tags, the tinsel and trappings," from all the Who's. But the Grinch's heart (two sizes too small) melted just in time when he realized that the Who's enjoyed Christmas without any externals. Youngsters will be in transports over the goofy gaiety of Dr. Seuss's first book about a villain — easily the best Christmas-cad since Scrooge. Inimitable Seuss illustrations of the Grinch's dog Max disguised as a reindeer are in black and white with touches of red. Irrepressible and irresistible.
Pub Date: Oct. 12, 1957
ISBN: 0394800796
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1957
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