A positive and uplifting introduction to an ancient tradition.
Little Panda learns about his inner rainbow.
“Little Panda loved to do yoga. / It was part of his daily routine— / warrior, tree, downward dog with friends, / breathing and Oming in between.” But one morning Mommy Panda is surprised to find Little Panda sad after the yoga that he loves. When asked, he says he has noticed that all his jungle friends are brightly colored, but he is just black and white. Mommy sits him down and tells him that while he is black and white on the outside, there is a rainbow of color wheels inside him. Starting with the red energy of the root chakra that keeps him grounded and connects him with the Earth, she rhymes her way through a description of each chakra in four-line stanzas (green and purple get two stanzas each). Little Panda is happy afterward and sees the rainbow within each time he looks in the mirror. Though Muchnik’s text contains some big words that might spur questions from little meditators, Timmermans’ illustrations of happy creatures effectively communicate the meaning and the domains of each colored chakra. The book closes with a simple chakra map. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A positive and uplifting introduction to an ancient tradition. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781605377650
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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