This un-pedestrian ode to road safety gets the green light.
Explore the city—safely—with the crosswalk-signal man.
On the corner of Broadway and Main Street lives Mr. Walker, the white crossing signal, who works day and night to help people traverse his street. In Jacques’ sparsely but diversely populated New York City, everyone crosses at the signal, splashes in clean puddles, and enjoys ice cream and leisurely dog walks. One fine day Mr. Walker hangs up his red stop hand and goes for an adventure, freshly adult-sized and complete with a friendly if rudimentary set of facial features. On his staycation, he enjoys all the things he has seen his pedestrians doing: He eats ice cream, chases after a dog, and splashes in pristine puddles under the watchful eye of a White police officer. Spot illustrations of Mr. Walker’s tour of the city depict amusement-park rides, balloons, and a skate park before he admires the sunset over the Brooklyn Bridge in a charming full-page spread. After some fortuitous crosswalk heroics away from home, Mr. Walker returns to his corner and, newly appreciative of his role in the grand scheme, settles back into the signal box quite happily. Author Graff weaves a sweet, imaginative story about the little walk-sign man, and Jacques’ illustrations bring him to life in colorful, chalky illustrations. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
This un-pedestrian ode to road safety gets the green light. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-328-85103-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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