A lovely tale featuring a protagonist sure to be a true friend to easily overwhelmed children.
A youngster finds peace in daily life and shows readers how they can, too.
Narrated by a Black child, this gentle, soothing picture book is made up of a continuous internal monologue in which the speaker shares various quiet places sought out and created at home, at school, and among the community at large. These small refuges aren’t always physical places; sometimes they’re the child’s way of blocking out sound or finding a way to stay grounded when the world gets to be too much. Whether the protagonist retreats to “the sunny chair in the school library,” achieves calmness by wearing headphones on a crowded bus, or finds comfort in “a steady hand to hold” (in this case, the hand of a Black adult), this youngster emerges as a resourceful, self-aware child with the inner resources to navigate small, day-to-day stressors. In a nice added touch, the narrator also models awareness of others’ feelings; at one point, the protagonist notices another child at a party who seems overstimulated (the image shows the kid in a hands-over-ears position). “I share my quiet when someone else may need a bit, as well,” reads text accompanying the next illustration of the two children coloring together. Digital illustrations feature vibrant colors but set an appropriately reassuring tone.
A lovely tale featuring a protagonist sure to be a true friend to easily overwhelmed children. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2025
ISBN: 9781797225319
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 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
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A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts.
In this latest slice in the Food Group series, Humble Pie learns to stand up to a busy friend who’s taking advantage of his pal’s hard work on the sidelines.
Jake the Cake and Humble Pie are good friends. Where Pie is content to toil in the background, Jake happily shines in the spotlight. Alert readers will notice that Pie’s always right there, too, getting A-pluses and skiing expertly just behind—while also doing the support work that keeps every school and social project humming. “Fact: Nobody notices pie when there’s cake nearby!” When the two friends pair up for a science project, things begin well. But when the overcommitted Jake makes excuse after excuse, showing up late or not at all, a panicked Pie realizes that they won’t finish in time. When Jake finally shows up on the night before the project’s due, Pie courageously confronts him. “And for once, I wasn’t going to sugarcoat it.” The friends talk it out and collaborate through the night for the project’s successful presentation in class the next day. John and Oswald’s winning recipe—plentiful puns and delightful visual jokes—has yielded another treat here. The narration does skew didactic as it wraps up: “There’s nothing wrong with having a tough conversation, asking for help, or making sure you’re being treated fairly.” But it’s all good fun, in service of some gentle lessons about social-emotional development.
A flavorful call to action sure to spur young introverts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063469730
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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