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ONE MORE JAR OF JAM

Name: ONE MORE JAR OF JAM
Author: Michelle Sumovich
ISBN: 9780593112670

by Michelle Sumovich ; illustrated by Gracey Zhang ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2023

A warm tale of grief, resilience, trees, and, of course, jam.

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“If you ever have a mulberry tree, you’ll learn / there’s nowhere sweeter to sit / than on branches, heavy with warm berries.”

Cycles and regeneration are significant themes in this tale that traces a child’s love of jam and the nearby mulberry tree that produces the fruit for it. A repeating refrain (“If you ever have a mulberry tree…”) gives the text a lilting, poetic quality, while loose and colorful illustrations evoke a warm, rural setting. The text is narrated in second person and addressed to a brown-skinned child who lives with a light-skinned father. The two make jam together, step by step, from adding beads and baubles to the tree (an attempt to keep birds away) to collecting berries that are shared (just a little) with those birds to gathering, crushing, and boiling them, which ultimately results in many jars of delicious jam, just right for sharing with brown-skinned Grandma and a diverse group of neighbors. When a storm knocks down the tree, the child grieves, but when spring comes, the young protagonist finds ways to celebrate at its stump with loved ones. So is this the end? An emphatic no! “If you ever have a mulberry tree, you’ll gasp, / when suddenly silent, shiny leaves burst— / From stems / to shoots / to branches.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A warm tale of grief, resilience, trees, and, of course, jam. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023

ISBN: 9780593112670

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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I HAVE THREE CATS…
by Michelle Sumovich ; illustrated by Laura Park

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EVERYTHING IS FINE!
by Michelle Sumovich ; illustrated by Sarah Jacoby

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)