A straightforward tale that sheds light on OCD.
Malik wants to go to his friend’s birthday party, but he’s afraid his obsessive compulsive disorder—his “Number Thoughts”—will get in the way.
Malik, a boy with brown skin and dark, coily hair, has been dealing with his Number Thoughts since last year. He feels compelled to count everything he does, such as tapping his pencil or blinking before going to sleep, and he feels scared and anxious when he doesn’t do things in fours. Malik is worried that his Number Thoughts will get in the way at the party, but he draws on techniques given to him by his therapist, such as deep breathing. This book provides a simple, realistic explanation of OCD, presenting it as something that can be coped with rather than as a problem to be easily solved. Children who have OCD will likely see themselves reflected in Malik and will benefit from the calming and centering techniques provided. These are incorporated into the story, modeled by Malik, so that readers can absorb them in context. The book could also be a useful teaching tool to help children who do not have OCD understand it. Unfortunately, the plot is a bit boring, and the tone is didactic. The illustrations are cute, providing support for the text, though they are static at times. Malik’s therapist is light-skinned, and his friends are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A straightforward tale that sheds light on OCD. (additional information on OCD) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8075-4950-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
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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Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his...
It’s a wonderful day in the jungle, so why’s Jim Panzee so grumpy?
When Jim woke up, nothing was right: "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and bananas were too sweet." Norman the gorilla asks Jim why he’s so grumpy, and Jim insists he’s not. They meet Marabou, to whom Norman confides that Jim’s grumpy. When Jim denies it again, Marabou points out that Jim’s shoulders are hunched; Jim stands up. When they meet Lemur, Lemur points out Jim’s bunchy eyebrows; Jim unbunches them. When he trips over Snake, Snake points out Jim’s frown…so Jim puts on a grimacelike smile. Everyone has suggestions to brighten his mood: dancing, singing, swinging, swimming…but Jim doesn’t feel like any of that. He gets so fed up, he yells at his animal friends and stomps off…then he feels sad about yelling. He and Norman (who regrets dancing with that porcupine) finally just have a sit and decide it’s a wonderful day to be grumpy—which, of course, makes them both feel a little better. Suzanne Lang’s encouragement to sit with your emotions (thus allowing them to pass) is nearly Buddhist in its take, and it will be great bibliotherapy for the crabby, cranky, and cross. Oscar-nominated animator Max Lang’s cartoony illustrations lighten the mood without making light of Jim’s mood; Jim has comically long arms, and his facial expressions are quite funny.
Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his journey. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-553-53786-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
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