TEACHERS AND WHAT THEY DO

Name: TEACHERS AND WHAT THEY DO
Author: Liesbet Slegers
ISBN: 978-1605371801

by Liesbet Slegers ; illustrated by Liesbet Slegers ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2014

Slegers’ adorable, round-headed, rosy-cheeked characters posed against solid-colored backgrounds aren’t enough to rescue...

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Other books have tackled the fact that teachers don’t live in their classrooms, but what dothey actually do?

Well, this particular blonde, pink-skinned teacher “wears regular clothes,” teaches kids to use their hands and their heads, writes on the chalkboard, greets students at the school gates, reads to her class, shows her students how to do arts and crafts (an obsession, it seems), asks questions, sorts out arguments, comforts children, “gives the really naughty kids time outs,” leads field trips, and sometimes works after school grading papers and planning lessons. And at the end of the year? Well, “teachers deserve something nice.” A page turn reveals instructions for a (surprise!) paper crown craft. Unlike Slegers’ Chefs (2014), this book unfortunately divides itself between alleviating children’s fears by highlighting what school is like and showcasing the teacher’s job, doing really well at neither. Although the vocabulary is not geared to new readers, Slegers’ sentences are simplistic and choppy, perhaps due to the text’s translation from Dutch. This would also explain some odd choices: The chalkboard is wiped with a duster; the teacher also instructs the students in gymnastics and swimming; and it seems to be a mixed-age classroom, though the focus is clearly on the younger students’ school day.

Slegers’ adorable, round-headed, rosy-cheeked characters posed against solid-colored backgrounds aren’t enough to rescue this one. (Informational picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: May 13, 2014

ISBN: 978-1605371801

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clavis

Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
BATHTIME AND BEDTIME
by Liesbet Slegers ; illustrated by Liesbet Slegers

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FARMER
by Liesbet Slegers ; illustrated by Liesbet Slegers

- BOOK REVIEW
VETERINARIANS AND WHAT THEY DO
by Liesbet Slegers ; illustrated by Liesbet Slegers

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CINDERELLA

From the Once Upon a World series

by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Sandra Equihua ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

A nice but not requisite purchase.

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A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.

Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.

A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LITTLE MERMAID
adapted by Hannah Eliot ; illustrated by Nivea Ortiz

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova

- BOOK REVIEW
RAPUNZEL
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova

- BOOK REVIEW
RAPUNZEL
by Chloe Perkins ; illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan

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THE GRUFFALO

by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Axel Scheffler ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1999

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The action of this rhymed and humorous tale centers upon a mouse who "took a stroll/through the deep dark wood./A fox saw the mouse/and the mouse looked good." The mouse escapes being eaten by telling the fox that he is on his way to meet his friend the gruffalo (a monster of his imagination), whose favorite food is roasted fox. The fox beats a hasty retreat. Similar escapes are in store for an owl and a snake; both hightail it when they learn the particulars: tusks, claws, terrible jaws, eyes orange, tongue black, purple prickles on its back. When the gruffalo suddenly materializes out of the mouse's head and into the forest, the mouse has to think quick, declaring himself inedible as the "scariest creature in the deep dark wood," and inviting the gruffalo to follow him to witness the effect he has on the other creatures. When the gruffalo hears that the mouse's favorite food is gruffalo crumble, he runs away. It's a fairly innocuous tale, with twists that aren't sharp enough and treachery that has no punch. Scheffler's funny scenes prevent the suspense from culminating; all his creatures, predator and prey, are downright lovable. (Picture book. 3-6)