An agreeable lesson in inclusion.
Even a noisemaker can find a place in the band.
In this simple but effective Italian import, the author/illustrator of All About Cats (2017) offers a reassuring message. With whimsical, colorful cartoons, she introduces Edward the elephant’s friends, an array of highly individual jungle animals who make beautiful instrumental music together. Alas, no matter what instrument he tries, Edward can make only “a terrible noise.” He never misses a band concert, but he’s always the audience. One day, he’s late, and his noisy arrival suggests another possibility: Edward can be the drummer. The story is conveyed in short sentences surrounded by images full of detail—sometimes in vignettes and sometimes double-page spreads. The Polish illustrator’s appealing animal characters have googly eyes, stylized noses, and happy smiles. The zebra sports dark glasses; Edward wears checkered pants with suspenders. The band members play a wild variety of instruments, from harp and double bass to accordion and toy xylophone. Their jungle is full of colorful variety, too. These bright, scribbly illustrations are the stars of the show. One striking scene shows Edward, drink in hand, enjoying a musical performance, clearly part of the circle even in his role as audience—which (it should have been noted) is also important. The circle is repeated on the last spread, when Edward and his new drum join the band. Whether by accident or design, Filipina often spaces her characters far enough apart from one another to suggest social distancing.
An agreeable lesson in inclusion. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4338-3505-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
As insubstantial as hot air.
A diverse cast of children first makes a fleet of hot air balloons and then takes to the sky in them.
Lifestyle maven Gaines uses this activity as a platform to celebrate diversity in learning and working styles. Some people like to work together; others prefer a solo process. Some take pains to plan extensively; others know exactly what they want and jump right in. Some apply science; others demonstrate artistic prowess. But “see how beautiful it can be when / our differences share the same sky?” Double-page spreads leading up to this moment of liftoff are laid out such that rhyming abcb quatrains typically contain one or two opposing concepts: “Some of us are teachers / and share what we know. / But all of us are learners. / Together is how we grow!” In the accompanying illustration, a bespectacled, Asian-presenting child at a blackboard lectures the other children on “balloon safety.” Gaines’ text has the ring of sincerity, but the sentiment is hardly an original one, and her verse frequently sacrifices scansion for rhyme. Sometimes it abandons both: “We may not look / or work or think the same, / but we all have an / important part to play.” Swaney’s delicate, pastel-hued illustrations do little to expand on the text, but they are pretty. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.2-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 70.7% of actual size.)
As insubstantial as hot air. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4003-1423-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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