A joyous celebration of supportive learning environments.
A language-loving boy with a lisp wins his school spelling bee in this autobiographical picture book from Sean and Moses Powe.
Sean Moses, a cheerful Black boy attending a predominantly Black primary school, has an unusual and distinctive way of speaking: “He makes ‘S’ sounds / in such a way, / he sounds just like a snake, / some say.” Sean’s classmates are mostly accepting of this difference. The school is about to hold its spelling bee, and all of the kids are excited to participate. On stage, Sean announces the start of the competition, and while his ‘s’ sounds provoke laughter from the audience of schoolkids, this is a good-natured response rather than anything spiteful. Sean wins the trophy—to much applause—and nobody mocks or begrudges him: “The other children smiled, / and said quietly, / ‘Sean Moses is no different, / from you or me.’” Sean is embraced by his parents, and the three of them drive off into the sunset. The authors tell Sean’s story via non-metered rhymed text, rendered in a friendly bold font and positioned (mostly unobtrusively) in the blank spaces of Kaplan’s two-page-spread digital illustrations. The pictures capture, in a number of ways, the inherent wonder and enthusiasm of preteen kids in a nurturing school environment, highlighting the students’ expressions, their simple, colorful clothes, the hazy, high-spirited atmosphere of the auditorium, and the vibrant swirls that surround Sean whenever he speaks. One slightly distracting element is how Kaplan favors disproportionately large heads when emphasizing how young the kids are, especially when depicting Sean. However, this doesn’t detract overmuch from what is, at heart, a positive and empowering story. The book concludes with an 8-page photo album of young Sean at the actual spelling bee, along with a list of resources for parents of children needing help with their speech development.
A joyous celebration of supportive learning environments.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781735180373
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Fatherless Fathers Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A bittersweet tale for kids that deftly illustrates the conflicting emotions that can occur when a loved one is struggling...
In Bertone’s illustrated children’s book, a young boy navigates his increasingly complex but loving relationship with his grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.
Nate loves his Nana, but lately he’s noticed “something going on with her mind.” She begins acting oddly: attempting to read a book upside down, for instance, or forgetting that it’s his birthday party and not hers. As she becomes more preoccupied with “imaginary friends” that Nate can’t see, he becomes increasingly upset that she doesn’t play with him the way she used to: “Sometimes my Nana goes far away, traveling, in her mind. But, where? It’s hard to say! To Italy, outer space, or back to 1952. When Nana’s not here, I don’t know what to do.” Although other people, including Papa (Nate’s grandfather), tend to argue with her when she gets in those moods, Nate tries his hardest to be understanding. As he wonders if she’ll be around to see him get older, she reassures him that her love will remain forever, “though I may forget your name and your face.” Bertone tells the story in verse, with only one or two sentences per page. Claridades’ cartoon illustrations feature wide-eyed characters and pops of color that perfectly encapsulate the story’s shifting moods. When Nana talks to people who aren’t present, for example, the illustrator shades the ghosts of her past in a solid color to differentiate them from reality. The book skillfully blends hard facts and feelings, mentioning Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, such as mood swings, while also demonstrating Nate’s patience and adoration. The lack of parental figures in the book seems like a missed opportunity for the story to clearly explain to Nate, and young readers, what’s happening with Nana. By and large, though, the book manages to convey the reality of the disease to kids in an approachable way that encourages discussion. The book ends with resources for “Understanding aging, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.”
A bittersweet tale for kids that deftly illustrates the conflicting emotions that can occur when a loved one is struggling with dementia.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9798989403417
Page Count: 50
Publisher: Susan Schadt Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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