When Rebecca Estelle was a little girl, money was scarce. Once for an entire month her family had nothing to eat but pumpkins, so Rebecca Estelle never wants to look at a pumpkin again. Every year while she tends her garden, she simply turns her back on the pumpkin truck as it rumbles by. When a pumpkin falls off the truck into her yard and smashes, she covers it with dirt and tries not to think about it, but by the next year, pumpkin vines have taken root. She resolutely ignores them all summer, but in the fall there are so many pumpkins in her front yard, she can ignore them no longer. Her creative solution makes a fine harvest and Halloween story. White's story features a perfectly plucky individual in Rebecca Estelle, and the detailed line and watercolor illustrations pick up the story and run with it. Lloyd (who illustrated Carolyn Otto's What Color is Camouflage?, p. 1240) gives Rebecca Estelle a fine old brick house with a ramble of garden sheds and chicken coops out back. Esmeralda, the heroine's sidekick cat, provides a particularly expressive counterpoint in almost every picture. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1996
ISBN: 0-8234-1245-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will root for Isabel and her colorful new beginning.
A first-day-of-school story steeped in vibrant imagery.
Isabel is anxious about her first day at Honeytree Elementary. Isabel speaks Spanish and doesn’t understand much English—she is scared of everything that could go wrong. Mami encourages her to be brave, and Isabel joins the class even though the swirl of language in her new classroom sounds harsh to her ears. Isabel compares the sound of English to the cold and stormy hues of her blue and white crayons, and Spanish to the more inviting pinks, yellows, and purples. A friendly student welcomes Isabel, but they have a hard time connecting across their language differences. Coloring time brings Isabel comfort and the realization that she might have a strategy for talking to her new friend that doesn’t require language at all. Isabel finds hope, and the English that surrounds her begins to sound less intimidating. Spanish words punctuate the English narrative throughout, and the full text of the story in Spanish is included on each page in a bright box. True to the title of the book, the pages are filled with colorful and inviting illustrations. Isabel and Mami have brown skin and curly hair, and her new friend presents Black; Isabel’s teacher and other classmates are racially diverse. This story affirms the experiences of English language learners while encouraging empathy for others. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Readers will root for Isabel and her colorful new beginning. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5341-1063-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The vote was not rocked.
Choosing a class pet has never been so tough.
The democratic process is in full effect when a classroom of students must vote on selecting and naming a new classroom pet that will join their existing pet rabbit, Mango. The students work in small groups to make posters that promote their animal of choice. After a brief kerfuffle between two friends (one saw the other voting for a different pet after both agreed to vote for a tree frog) is resolved, a pet duck is chosen, and the students elect to call their new pet Froggie. The brightly colored illustrations—a mix of gouache, colored pencil, brush marker, and digital finishing touches—present a vibrant classroom full of diverse children, and the text features a flowing rhyme scheme that reads aloud beautifully. But the message of the importance of voting feels superficial. The drama of the friends voting different ways is resolved a shade too quickly and without visual or textual clues supporting the importance of anonymity in democracy. If you’re looking for a “B side” book about voting for storytime, this is acceptable; if you’re looking for more…keep looking. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The vote was not rocked. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-10835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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