A clever, polished story whose lively illustrations reinforce the retro theme.
Two white boys ply the gumball machine with their quarters, pursuing the elusive silver racer toy in this picture book.
It’s 6 a.m., and James would like his allowance of five quarters. His mother, still in bed, counts them out for him. One quarter is a Canadian quarter, and when James asks if it’s “lucky,” his mother replies “Oh, yes.” After school James meets up with Danny at Mr. Wright’s store, where there is a gumball machine with a silver racer toy in it among the gumballs. One by one they insert their quarters. Many gumballs and other prizes come out, but no silver racer. Finally, all that is left is James’ lucky Canadian quarter. Newman’s angular illustrations excel at expressions and postures and have a retro look: the boys are snub-nosed and wholesome-looking, the women wear perky ponytails, the shopkeeper is beefy, and everyone in the story is white except for one black man, who is a customer at the store. Willard’s present-tense narrative has a pace and cadence that never swerve as it smoothly brings readers to the conclusion of whether the Canadian quarter was a lucky one or not.
A clever, polished story whose lively illustrations reinforce the retro theme. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7774-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings.
The Crayons head back to class in this latest series entry.
Daywalt’s expository text lays out the basics as various Crayons wave goodbye to the beach, choose a first-day outfit, greet old friends, and make new ones. As in previous outings, the perennially droll illustrations and hand-lettered Crayon-speak drive the humor. The ever wrapperless Peach, opining, “What am I going to wear?” surveys three options: top hat and tails, a chef’s toque and apron, and a Santa suit. New friends Chunky Toddler Crayon (who’s missing a bite-sized bit of their blue point) and Husky Toddler Crayon speculate excitedly on their common last name: “I wonder if we’re related!” White Crayon, all but disappearing against the page’s copious white space, sits cross-legged reading a copy of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. And Yellow and Orange, notable for their previous existential argument about the color of the sun, find agreement in science class: Jupiter, clearly, is yellow AND orange. Everybody’s excited about art class—“Even if they make a mess. Actually…ESPECIALLY if they make a mess!” Here, a spread of crayoned doodles of butterflies, hearts, and stars is followed by one with fulsome scribbles. Fans of previous outings will spot cameos from Glow in the Dark and yellow-caped Esteban (the Crayon formerly known as Pea Green). (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Nothing new here but a nonetheless congenial matriculant in publishing’s autumnal rite of back-to-school offerings. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9780593621110
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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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