It is a ritual with many moving parts. So it is rare, and so it is magic.
This story takes place in the north. Could be Canada, or Minnesota, or New York. All that matters is that it is north, where the cold bites, which is one of the prerequisites. “When you walk in the woods, the leaves shatter under your feet like glass.” Bone-cracking cold keeps the wind down and closes the ice crystals tight on the beaver pond. A small, diverse company of kids is anxious to get on the ice. Things could go wrong—a sudden warming, rain, a wet snow—but even during the daytime, James keeps the artwork feeling cold with images that feel as though they have been carved from ice-covered scratchboard. Finally, the full moon rises. “We walk between ridges, through dense tamarack swamp…and up a high hill. In the distance we see the wide, snowy flat of the beaver flood,” which they arrive at just as night falls. “Our wet pants freeze solid...we walk clanking like knights in armor.” They make a fire, warm their toes, and get on with some deep-woods pond hockey on perfect ice. The illustrations, with their burnished waning light, and the clipped-short narrative combine to create an atmosphere that for anyone who has experienced it will feel pitch-perfect.
The game of shinny, which never grows old. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-10191-777-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS
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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
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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