Ideal for encouraging young readers to forge a better connection with the source of their food.
A charismatic and friendly alien learns to become self-sufficient in Golden’s picture book about growing food.
On a vividly colored planet called Venesha, a blue-haired, human-like alien creature named Mordokai can never get enough carrots. He decides to plant a garden, first clearing the weeds, then planting the seeds for various fruits and vegetables. After a very fast growth cycle, Mordokai has vegetables to share with his friends. When the fruit trees grow, he harvests the fruit: “Mordokai made lemonade with the lemons. He shared it with his friends.” He decides that next, he’ll plant strawberries. There’s no real conflict in the narrative; the tale focuses on Mordokai’s patience while waiting for his plants to grow. The emphasis on sharing is made clear, but it’s never didactic—sharing is presented as a natural by-product of self-sufficiency. The simple sentences and accessible vocabulary make this a good choice for emergent readers, especially when accompanied by Eban’s vibrant full-color illustrations. The character designs for the aliens make them all look a little monstrous, but never scary, and Mordokai’s charming expressions—especially his puppy dog eyes when he can’t afford to buy carrots—are sure to have young readers rooting for him. The ending promises a sequel continuing Mordokai’s gardening journey.
Ideal for encouraging young readers to forge a better connection with the source of their food.Pub Date: May 17, 2023
ISBN: 978-1960976192
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Lamar Golden
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.
After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.
Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622360
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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BOOK REVIEW
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