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THE CLOTHESLINE

Name: THE CLOTHESLINE
Author: Orbie
ISBN: 978-1-77147-390-3

by Orbie ; illustrated by Orbie ; translated by Karen Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2019

There’s some fun here, and readers will recognize that “hanging around” has taken on a new, unexpected meaning.

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What’s it like to literally hang around?

Five-year-old Reggie knows. The tot is stranded in midair in the middle of Mom’s clothesline while single-handedly clutching a knot in the middle of the line. Yanking said knot while skipping downstairs from the apartment is a ritual: Reggie likes the knot’s sound when it’s snapped. Today, having slipped on the stairs, Reggie’s hand becomes entangled in the knot; struggling comically pushes Reggie into the clothesline’s center. Reggie’s other hand enfolds coins earned by doing chores. Reggie doesn’t want to drop the money, but the kid is also terrified of falling. Mom’s inside wearing large earphones, so yelling for her does no good. Eventually the coins and Reggie plummet to the pavement. Fortunately, Reggie sustains only dirty hands, with which the sniffling child quickly retrieves the coins and buys candy. By the following week, Reggie’s learned the lesson about that pesky knot. This quirky Canadian import, translated from French, has Reggie narrating in first person in a dryly witty, self-aware tone. However, when Reggie realizes the fall wasn’t so bad, the tension and fun end abruptly, and the story becomes a letdown. The child-appealing, expressive illustrations feature lots of white space, focusing attention on Reggie’s plight. Characters present white.

There’s some fun here, and readers will recognize that “hanging around” has taken on a new, unexpected meaning. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-77147-390-3

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Owlkids Books

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LITTLE PIG, THE BICYCLE, AND THE MOON
by Pierrette Dubé ; illustrated by Orbie

- BOOK REVIEW
SLOTH AT THE ZOOM
by Helaine Becker ; illustrated by Orbie

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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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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)