A sweet tribute to youthful creativity.
A child and a toy elephant enjoy a blissful day, fueled by imagination.
A bouncy pachyderm leaps into curly-haired Ella’s bed one morning. Ella dubs the newcomer Lavender, and they proceed to eat pancakes, clean up, and set out for the day. Though they’re both eager to play, Ella laments, “I need to stay tidy, as clean as can be. Mommy is hosting an afternoon tea.” So Lavender proposes “a leisurely stroll.” Despite the best of intentions, they both end up playing hide-and-seek among the trees, having a garden hose water battle, and making mud pies—which leaves them both a soggy mess. Mommy ultimately spots and gently chides them. After baths for both (Lavender, back to his toy form, is placed in the washing machine), it’s time for tea and, eventually, bed. Relying predominantly on shades of pink and purple and depicting her characters with cherubic features, Farb effectively evokes an idyllic suburban setting, from the well-ordered garden to the prim and proper tea party. Lavender changes shape regularly, emphasizing the creative power of make-believe; readers who don’t pay close attention to the title page (which depicts the elephant as a toy sitting on Ella’s windowsill) may be briefly confused by his transformations. Treading familiar territory, Peugh makes use of upbeat rhyming text that pairs well with the artwork. Ella is tan-skinned and rosy-cheeked; Mommy is slightly lighter-skinned.
A sweet tribute to youthful creativity. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9781962269230
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flashlight Press
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
