“Hakaras Hatov,” the Jewish daily ritual of thanking God for everyday life, is explicated in simplistic verse in this personalized drawing workbook.
Beginning with the Modeh Ani, or morning prayer, a little girl, upon awakening in her bed, thanks Hashem (God) for ”making me, me!” As her day continues, she is grateful for her family, the mitzvos (good deeds) she is able to do, food she eats, her home and possessions, the natural world surrounding her, her health and, at night, once again for her warm bed. Each thank you is accompanied by a brightly hued watercolor illustration on the left side featuring an observant Jewish family in proper attire, complete with long skirts for girls and yarmulkes for boys. The right side provides a bordered blank page for children to draw their own corresponding thank-you picture as suggested—“Where do you live? Draw a picture of your house on this page.” Created for an Orthodox audience, this preschool-oriented introduction to daily prayer and gratitude is carefully designed and stands out by presenting a girl for its protagonist. Yet it pales compared to the award-winning, artfully rendered duo by Sarah Gershman, The Bedtime Sh’ma (2007) and Modeh Ani (2010).
A family book to learn with and share for those inclined to this religious lifestyle. (Picture books/religion. 4-6)Pub Date: Dec. 12, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-929628-63-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hachai
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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Beaten down by a ubiquitous chorus of denials (see title), a monster suffers an existential crisis.
Surrounded by emphatic claims that it doesn’t even exist, a monster sets out not only to prove the contrary, but to establish its scariness credentials too. Alas, neither blasting the world with graffiti and printed fliers nor rearing up menacingly over a baby in a carriage, children at the barre in a ballet class and other supposedly susceptible victims elicits any response. Juggling some cows attracts attention but not the terrified kind. But the monster’s final despairing surrender—“That’s it! It’s over! I give up! ... / Monsters aren’t real (sniff)”—triggers an indignant denial of a different sort from a second, smaller but wilder-looking, creature. It takes the first in hand and leads it off, declaring “We’re two big, strong, scary monsters, and we’ll prove it.” In truth, it won’t escape even very young readers that neither is particularly scary-looking. Indeed, the protagonist-monster is depicted in the sparsely detailed cartoon illustrations as a furry, almost cuddly, bearlike hulk with light-blue spots, antlers and comically googly eyes, certain to provoke more giggles than screams.
A lightweight fear-dispeller, without the gun violence that now makes Mercer Mayer’s There’s a Nightmare in My Closet (1968) so discomfiting. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61067-073-9
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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BOOK REVIEW
Knight and Horse follow their dreams— literally.
Horse and Knight are exhausted when readers meet them, collapsing upon returning to their castle. But when Knight has a dream of golden cookies, he (or she—readers never see Knight with visor up) wakes the sleepy steed, and they go questing for the treasure. They look everywhere—hollow trees, the bushes, and a pond—only to find the cookies at home in a jar on the kitchen table. The loony plot and the spirited pen-and-ink–and-watercolor illustrations elevate this book above most for emerging readers. Knight’s metal suit, astonishingly, betrays emotions and energy level, whether tired, curious, or energized. (Even the armored feet look tired.) Watching Knight sleep with tush in the air will certainly elicit giggles from the youngest readers. Horse, too, is metal-clad, but its armor does not cover its skeptical eyes, allowing readers to laugh along while the near-asleep rider falls out of the saddle. Clear, readable typeface and familiar sight words are the order of the day. Repeated words (especially “good,” “night,” “horse,” “knight,” and “sleep”) punctuate the humorous story, making it easy to decode. When Horse has a dream of its own at the end, smiling readers will have no choice but to wonder where the pair are off to now.
Clear text, amusing illustrations, and a captivating easy-to-read story make this a winner for horse-loving emerging readers. (Early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: May 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3206-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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