An uplifting and beautifully illustrated celebration of cultural and religious similarities and differences.
A young child explores love and faith in this picture book.
A child says, “I come to earth to fill many hearts with love.” The kid shares experiences of comfort and joy, especially from mom and dad. The child explains that people of all cultures participate in positive activities: “Some friends wear different kinds of clothes than I wear, / But they still play and pray.” And despite religious and cultural differences, everyone expresses love, especially toward family members. The youngster also emphasizes the diverse ways that people practice religion. (“Some cover their heads, some bow, and some kneel.”) But the child concludes that ultimately people are united and that “it’s about how we show love each moment of each day.” One of the final illustrations portrays a group of children of various ethnicities looking toward a vibrant blue sky. The book’s images depict followers of religions that include Islam and Orthodox Judaism. Some of the language features a Christian perspective (“For you Holy Spirit, shining down from above... / We feel your peace... / I know the Love of heaven”). Taylor’s upbeat message underscoring respect and unity is laudable and inspiring. Duarte’s bright and intricate illustrations are wonderful. The charming images depict people around the world with assorted skin colors. All ages are shown celebrating, eating, and enjoying time with family and friends. Many wear traditional or regional garments, such as wooden shoes.
An uplifting and beautifully illustrated celebration of cultural and religious similarities and differences.Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-982210-82-3
Page Count: 26
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees.
After Duncan finds his crayons gone—yet again—letters arrive, detailing their adventures in friendship.
Eleven crayons send missives from their chosen spots throughout Duncan’s home (and one from his classroom). Red enjoys the thrill of extinguishing “pretend fires” with Duncan’s toy firetruck. White, so often dismissed as invisible, finds a new calling subbing in for the missing queen on the black-and-white chessboard. “Now everyone ALWAYS SEES ME!…(Well, half the time!)” Pink’s living the dream as a pastry chef helming the Breezy Bake Oven, “baking everything from little cupcakes…to…OTHER little cupcakes!” Teal, who’s hitched a ride to school in Duncan’s backpack, meets the crayons in the boy’s desk and writes, “Guess what? I HAVE A TWIN! How come you never told me?” Duncan wants to see his crayons and “meet their new friends.” A culminating dinner party assembles the crayons and their many guests: a table tennis ball, dog biscuits, a well-loved teddy bear, and more. The premise—personified crayons, away and back again—is well-trammeled territory by now, after over a dozen books and spinoffs, and Jeffers once more delivers his signature cartooning and hand-lettering. Though the pages lack the laugh-out-loud sight gags and side-splittingly funny asides of previous outings, readers—especially fans of the crayons’ previous outings—will enjoy checking in on their pals.
Quirky, familiar fun for series devotees. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9780593622360
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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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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