A kid-friendly approach to good hygiene that could have been more informative.
This children’s picture book explains the dangers of germs and how to prevent infection.
The opening of this work employs odd phrasing and emphatic exclamation marks: “Germ Concern!”; “Germ instruction awareness production! / Learn and be concerned about germs!” After this somewhat clumsy beginning, the book settles into rhyming verse with varying stanza lengths and rhyme schemes. The book warns kids that illness can spread by touch or through the air. Good hygiene includes washing one’s hands after using the bathroom, not sharing bites of food, and turning one’s head away from others during naptime to avoid others’ exhalations, the third-person narrator says. To prevent sickness, one should have a healthy diet, get rest, and use medicine and disinfectant spray. A glossary defines potentially unfamiliar words. In his debut, author/illustrator Mikos offers good basic information. However, it’s somewhat incomplete; for example, the glossary says that germs are “tiny,” but not that one needs special equipment to see them. Also left out is the role of vaccines in disease prevention. That said, kids are likely to respond well to the book’s humor, rhyme, and intriguing illustrations. The latter depict light-skinned children realistically in pen and ink, while germs are conceived fantastically as watercolor creatures with googly eyes.
A kid-friendly approach to good hygiene that could have been more informative.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-5255-4534-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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