A powerful tale about achieving positive emotional health.
A coach helps students understand that real strength comes from the heart in this picture book that emphasizes both physical activity and good mental health.
One day, Hasan’s cousin Lucas, a blond-haired, blue-eyed White boy, comes to visit. Lucas becomes nervous about how much his dark-haired, tawny-skinned relative praises his physical education teacher, Coach Ben. In Lucas’ imagination, Coach Ben is like Heronite, a very strong, unemotional video game character Hasan loves. Hasan claims the teacher can do anything, but Lucas wonders: “Does Coach Ben ever cry?” When class starts, Lucas has the chance to ask, and it turns out that Coach Ben does, claiming, “Tears mean your heart is strong enough to get full in the first place.” This encouragement is just what Lucas needs to get inspired to be physically fit and to recognize his own feelings. Laid out like a comic, with speech and thought bubbles and panels, this critique of valuing “manliness” over “emotional intelligence” (as reflected in the stats of the video game) encourages readers to embrace their own feelings. Rezaie’s text is brief and accessible. While it offers Hasan’s views on various topics, the story revolves around Lucas’ emotional arc and personal growth. Lapitan’s detailed, hand-drawn, comic book–style illustrations feature a diverse cast, with mixed-heritage families and a group of students with many skin tones and hairstyles. Several easter-egg nods to other titles and inspiring quotes hide in the backgrounds.
A powerful tale about achieving positive emotional health.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-63795-049-4
Page Count: 46
Publisher: Primedia eLaunch LLC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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