A useful tool for instigating socio-emotional discussions with children despite the muddied metaphor.
Regulating emotions can feel like a never-ending boxing match.
Simon doesn’t know what to do; he’s lost his temper at school again. Uncle Richard, who moved in with the family when Dad left, says there are lots of different puppets inside of Simon representing different aspects of his personality. There’s Simon the Fearful, dreading the consequences of his actions; Simon the Arrogant, who hurls insults at his classmates; Simon the Good Student, who makes comics in art class; and so many more. Like boxers, they compete for dominance. Uncle Richard reminds Simon that all the puppets can be useful, but only at the right time. The key is to listen to the “little referee” inside to make the right decisions. It won’t be easy, but Uncle Richard is proud of Simon for continuing to work at regulating his emotions himself. Originally written in French by a former teacher and pedagogical counselor, the book offers backmatter activities that encourage socio-emotional exploration. The text toggles among first person as Simon describes moments from his day, third person, when Simon introduces a particular puppet, and snippets of dialogue. Although the boxing metaphor has a strong start, it fails to follow a consistent pattern. Consequently, the strong beginning and ending bookend a rather meandering middle section. Stylized illustrations depict fair-skinned characters with round, rosy cheeks and black hair. The limited palette of gray, red, black, and white relies heavily on patterns and shadows created with meticulous pencil strokes. Arbona uses perspective and angle to draw focus, often exaggerating the size of one element to emphasize Simon’s feelings.
A useful tool for instigating socio-emotional discussions with children despite the muddied metaphor. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2181-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
A funny and timely primer for budding activists.
Problems are afoot at Emily Dickinson Elementary School, and it’s up to Bea Garcia to gather the troops and fight.
Bea Garcia and her best friend, Judith Einstein, sit every day under the 250-year-old oak tree in their schoolyard and imagine a face in its trunk. They name it “Emily” after their favorite American poet. Bea loves to draw both real and imagined pictures of their favorite place—the squirrels in the tree, the branches that reach for the sky, the view from the canopy even though she’s never climbed that high. Until the day a problem boy does climb that high, pelting the kids with acorns and then getting stuck. Bert causes such a scene that the school board declares Emily a nuisance and decides to chop it down. Bea and Einstein rally their friends with environmental facts, poetry, and artwork to try to convince the adults in their lives to change their minds. Bea must enlist Bert if she wants her plan to succeed. Can she use her imagination and Bert’s love of monsters to get him in line? In Bea’s fourth outing, Zemke gently encourages her protagonist to grow from an artist into an activist. Her energy and passion spill from both her narration and her frequent cartoons, which humorously extend the text. Spanish-speaking Bea’s Latinx, Einstein and Bert present white, and their classmates are diverse.
A funny and timely primer for budding activists. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 6-9)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2941-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends
Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”
When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.
A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9957-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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