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PIRATE JOHN-WOLF

Name: PIRATE JOHN-WOLF
Author: Nathalie Quintart
ISBN: 978-1-60537-330-0

by Nathalie Quintart ; illustrated by Philippe Goossens ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2017

Lukewarm pirating in a field of hearty buccaneers makes this book cannon fodder, nothing more.

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A pup’s search for bravery takes him—unwillingly—to the high seas.

Stories of pirates are thrilling yarns that appeal considerably to lily-livered John-Wolf. A milquetoast little pup who feels bravest when he sings of pirate glory, his best hopes and worst fears are realized when a crew of salty sea dogs steals him from his bed, insisting that he compose lyrics in praise of their leader, Capt. Drake. But watching the crew fight its enemies renders him frightened and mute. It’s only after the pirates have stopped paying attention to him that he finds his singing voice, jeering at the crew in rhyme—which, unexpectedly, wins him the respect of the captain and crew, and now he jeers in rhyme everywhere he goes. John-Wolf’s sudden change in temperament comes without explanation. Is he now brave because he had the guts to insult the pirates to their faces or because they befriended him? The story was originally published in Dutch, and perhaps some of the awkwardness of the text can be traced to a weak translation. While the descriptions can be amusing (intermittently John-Wolf feels as weak as “a lump of toothpaste,” “a lump of lukewarm butter,” and “a custard bun with strawberries”), the songs often fail to rhyme, scan, or (occasionally) even make sense. Serviceable art fails to correct for the story’s weaknesses.

Lukewarm pirating in a field of hearty buccaneers makes this book cannon fodder, nothing more. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: July 11, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-60537-330-0

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Clavis

Review Posted Online: April 25, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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RUBY FINDS A WORRY

From the Big Bright Feelings series

by Tom Percival ; illustrated by Tom Percival ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2019

A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their...

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Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry.

Ruby barely sees the Worry—depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow—at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby’s everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink—and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book’s conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child—or adult—conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair.

A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings (. (Picture book. 4-6)