“Friendship! Happiness! World peace! Maple syrup!” A buoyant, bristly ode to joy.
Smith eschews twee for twigs in this tribute to our world.
No joke, Stickler truly does love the wild, wonderful world in which we live. Resembling nothing so much as a toothy stickball with outsized ears, eyes (eight of them!), and pointy little teeth, Stickler runs about the natural world naming objects with all the enthusiasm of a Richard Scarry page (“Mushy moss! Sticky honey!”). The only thing better would be to see it all for the first time. Enter a bird with a can on his head. Stickler promptly decides the bird must be a space alien and, delighted, sets about showing the creature everything it loves about our planet. Happily, when the bird’s true identity is revealed, Stickler’s tour of world wonders has not gone unappreciated. While this tale may take its visual cues from such Smith classics as The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip (2000), written by George Saunders (Stickler exudes some serious gapper energy), it’s the hero’s spiky strangeness that proves the perfect accompaniment to a text that could otherwise dissolve into treacle. Here Smith has joined the oddball goofiness of his earlier books with the heart and soul of his more recent stories, and the result is a book as physically beautiful as it is moving. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
“Friendship! Happiness! World peace! Maple syrup!” A buoyant, bristly ode to joy. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9780593649831
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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
Spires’ understanding of the fragility and power of the artistic impulse mixes with expert pacing and subtle...
Making things is difficult work. Readers will recognize the stages of this young heroine’s experience as she struggles to realize her vision.
First comes anticipation. The artist/engineer is spotted jauntily pulling a wagonload of junkyard treasures. Accompanied by her trusty canine companion, she begins drawing plans and building an assemblage. The narration has a breezy tone: “[S]he makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!” The colorful caricatures and creations contrast with the digital black outlines on a white background that depict an urban neighborhood. Intermittent blue-gray panels break up the white expanses on selected pages showing sequential actions. When the first piece doesn’t turn out as desired, the protagonist tries again, hoping to achieve magnificence. A model of persistence, she tries many adjustments; the vocabulary alone offers constructive behaviors: she “tinkers,” “wrenches,” “fiddles,” “examines,” “stares” and “tweaks.” Such hard work, however, combines with disappointing results, eventually leading to frustration, anger and injury. Explosive emotions are followed by defeat, portrayed with a small font and scaled-down figures. When the dog, whose expressions have humorously mirrored his owner’s through each phase, retrieves his leash, the resulting stroll serves them well. A fresh perspective brings renewed enthusiasm and—spoiler alert—a most magnificent scooter sidecar for a loyal assistant.
Spires’ understanding of the fragility and power of the artistic impulse mixes with expert pacing and subtle characterization for maximum delight. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55453-704-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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