A lovely, gentle story for bedtime sharing.
A little boy loves to cuddle and chat with his stuffed-animal friends at bedtime.
His bedtime ritual includes a good-night kiss, a story and a loving “good night” with his mother, but he most looks forward to his whispered conversations with beloved friends Greedy Goose, Blue Horse and Fat Rabbit. Each animal in turn discreetly calls for attention, respectively coughing a little cough, shaking a mane or twitching ears. The boy then asks the title question, followed by the animal telling him “the what, the who, the why, and the way…the whole wild thing…turned out okay.” The specifics are told wordlessly and in great detail in Stringer’s bright acrylic illustrations with just the right softly fuzzy surroundings. From Goose’s encounter with a pink umbrella to Horse’s deployment as an emergency picnic site (a blanket thrown over his back makes his rockers a fine tent) to Rabbit’s clothespin-pinched bottom, these adventures are charming and easy for little readers to follow. The boy’s version of his daytime activities is related in exactly the same manner and nicely meshes with the previously told tales. Bedroom scenes are more sharply defined, large-scale, full- and double-page spreads. Fox’s use of rhyme and repetition has a flowing cadence that moves briskly along while allowing time to savor the details of the innocent delight of a small child’s imagination.
A lovely, gentle story for bedtime sharing. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4169-9006-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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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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
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