A sweet first poetry collection takes young readers through the seasons.
Poems with kid appeal.
In the opening, titular poem, the main character declares that she is 5 years old. The poems that follow encompass the four seasons and explore topics that are meaningful to the age group, such as art projects, gardening with Mom, taking care of a pet, and more. The poems are accompanied by vivid illustrations to bring the symbolic language to life. Mora makes use of alliteration, onomatopoeia, and refrain to keep verses interesting. She reminds readers in the author’s note that not all poems rhyme, and she demonstrates this with a compilation of poems that largely don’t but still provide satisfying read-aloud potential. Each poem is a snapshot of what feels most important to a kindergarten-age child, including the death of a friend’s pet snail. As the poems continue, the passage of time is indicated with the lengthening of the protagonist’s hair, and the collection ends with a sixth birthday party illustration and poem. A handful of Spanish words and phrases appear in several poems, including one titled “Speaking Spanish,” in which the family travels to Mexico, but it is not a bilingual book. The main character, modeled on Mora’s granddaughter, has peach skin with blond hair and brown eyes. Other characters appear to have light brown or white skin and brown hair and eyes.
A sweet first poetry collection takes young readers through the seasons. (Picture book/poetry. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64379-085-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Plenty to see for young animal (and plant) lovers, plus an expansive view of the concept of seasons.
Progressive split pages capture seasonal rounds and communities of wildlife in natural habitats worldwide.
Even the Arctic in winter has a populous look as Robin generously strews six broad, painted-paper–collage landscapes with flora and fauna that are strongly reminiscent of Eric Carle’s in color and composition. Most scenes are presented in a sequence of four increasingly larger, overlapped pages, one per season, arranged so that seams between seasons are artfully aligned. If Pang’s simply phrased commentary can’t always keep up, so that some of the wildlife on display goes unidentified, still it offers informational nourishment. This is conveyed in both specific facts (“The ostrich is the largest, heaviest bird in the world”) and big-picture explanations of what’s going on (“Behind giant dust clouds and swirling water, the Great Migration is taking place across the Mara River”). Moreover, in laudable contrast to the general run of seasonal albums, the usual spring-summer-fall-winter sequence changes up after opening views in and around a European oak. Alaskan scenes begin with autumn, China’s Yellow Dragon Valley with winter, and along with the Arctic’s binary winter and summer, both a mangrove swamp in northern Australia and Kenya’s Masaai Mara accurately see only “wet” and “dry” seasons. Human presence is confined to occasional pleas to be mindful of wild places.
Plenty to see for young animal (and plant) lovers, plus an expansive view of the concept of seasons. (Informational novelty. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-944530-37-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: 360 Degrees
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An attractive take on an oft-addressed topic best perused over several sittings.
An exploration of how we use our hands for basic things and endless creativity.
Full-page, large, thick, black-outlined cartoon drawings rendered in a minimalist style against a stark white space emphasize a one- or two-word description of an action that can be taken using one’s hands. Greet is accompanied by an image of a handshake and touch, with a depiction of two hands (one brown, the other the white of the page) pressed palm to palm. Though hands are the focus, some images depict faces or whole people. Sometimes, splashes of color are used to highlight a particular example. To illustrate how hands can shape or flatten, colorful balls appear, with a hand rolling them; another image shows a hand pushing the balls down. Many of the descriptions offset one another as opposites. Build has hands stacking toy blocks opposite destroy, with a fist punching the pile to topple it. Though this whimsical book, originally published in French, takes on a well-trod topic and is on the lengthy side, the many examples will speak to kids and may spark discussion about how our ability to use our hands allows us to be productive and enjoy life. Most characters or hands are the white of the page; some are depicted as brown. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An attractive take on an oft-addressed topic best perused over several sittings. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63655-042-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Red Comet Press
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
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