Using bright colors and brilliant prints, Freeman encourages young readers to be themselves. (Picture book. 3-6)
Princess Arabella learns that standing out is not necessarily a bad thing and that she can both stay true to herself and succeed as she starts her first day of school.
The young princess is excited to start school. She packs her golden pens and pencil sharpener, her books, and her “royal lunchbox” and is all set to have a marvelous day at her new school. But she doesn’t hear her parents encourage her to be good and to listen to her teacher, instead running pell-mell to school. When the beautiful princess, who has dark brown skin and round, black plaits, gets to her new classroom, she finds a diverse group of princesses practicing deportment and etiquette. Instead of balancing books on her head to “Walk with Grace,” Princess Arabella prefers to read the books. Rather than cutting ribbons, Princess Arabella prefers to cut paper-animal chains. In math class, Princess Arabella finds the problem (adding crowns) “silly” and laments, “I don’t like school anymore!” Happily, when the royal teacher (a black woman in a tweed suit) asks the princesses to bring their favorite animals to school, Princess Arabella is excited to come back and show off hers. Princess Arabella’s ebullience in this Belgian import is contagious, and readers will be delighted to learn that Princess Arabella and the Giant Cake will be out in the fall.
Using bright colors and brilliant prints, Freeman encourages young readers to be themselves. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 26, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911115-65-6
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Cassava Republic Press
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Roller-coaster enthusiasts or not, children will eagerly join our intrepid hero on this entertaining ride.
The Pigeon is on an emotional—and physical—roller coaster.
Since learning about the existence of roller coasters, he’s become giddy with excitement. The Pigeon prepares mentally: He’ll need a ticket and “exemplary patience” to wait in line. He envisions zooming up and down and careening through dizzying turns and loops. Then, he imagines his emotions afterward: exhilaration, post-ride blues, pride at having accomplished such a feat, and enthusiasm at the prospect of riding again. (He’ll also feel dizzy and nauseous.) All this before the Pigeon ever sets claw on an actual coaster. So…will he really try it? Are roller coasters fun? When the moment comes, everything seems to go according to plan: waiting in line, settling into the little car, THEN—off he goes! Though the ride itself isn’t quite what the Pigeon expected, it will delight readers. Wearing his feelings on his wing and speaking directly to the audience in first person, the Pigeon describes realistic thoughts and emotions about waiting and guessing about the unknown—common childhood experiences. No sentiment is misplaced; kids will relate to Pigeon’s eagerness and apprehension. The ending falls somewhat flat, but the whole humorous point is that an underwhelming adventure can still be thrilling enough to warrant repeating. Willems’ trademark droll illustrations will have readers giggling. The roller-coaster attendant is light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Roller-coaster enthusiasts or not, children will eagerly join our intrepid hero on this entertaining ride. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4549-4686-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the...
In this deceptively spare, very beginning reader, a girl assembles a robot and then treats it like a slave until it goes on strike.
Having put the robot together from a jumble of loose parts, the budding engineer issues an increasingly peremptory series of rhymed orders— “Throw, Bot. / Row, Bot”—that turn from playful activities like chasing bubbles in the yard to tasks like hoeing the garden, mowing the lawn and towing her around in a wagon. Jung crafts a robot with riveted edges, big googly eyes and a smile that turns down in stages to a scowl as the work is piled on. At last, the exhausted robot plops itself down, then in response to its tormentor’s angry “Don’t say no, Bot!” stomps off in a huff. In one to four spacious, sequential panels per spread, Jung develops both the plotline and the emotional conflict using smoothly modeled cartoon figures against monochromatic or minimally detailed backgrounds. The child’s commands, confined in small dialogue balloons, are rhymed until her repentant “Come on home, Bot” breaks the pattern but leads to a more equitable division of labor at the end.
A straightforward tale of conflict and reconciliation for newly emergent readers? Not exactly, which raises it above the rest. (Easy reader. 4-6)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-87083-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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