A wordy but well-illustrated story about a young girl’s performance at a Hindu festival.
A young girl overcomes anxieties before a dance performance in the latest picture book by the Indian American children’s author Dee (Molly and the Lost Dance Shoes, 2022, etc.).
Diya is excited about dancing onstage to her sister Sita’s choreography for the Hindu festival Navaratri. As she gets ready at the venue, she realizes she doesn’t have her anklets. After looking in the green room, snack room, and restroom without finding them, Diya is beside herself. Sita and others join the search, but soon it’s time for the performance and no one has found the precious jingly jewelry. Upset, Diya puts on her coat to leave, too sad to dance without the anklets. When she does, she learns about the importance of organization: The mystery is soon solved, and Diya dances with the other performers. Dee’s work has larger blocks of text than typical for picture books, which could daunt emerging readers, but the language is appropriate for those of elementary school age. There are Hindi words sprinkled throughout, such as choli, Amma, and kurta, and a helpful glossary in the back. Kim’s simple but colorful illustrations are creatively designed to appear as if they’re painted onto wood, with its grain appearing subtly in the background. The characters’ heads are slightly oversized, giving a cartoonish aspect to a few scenes, but that will add to the fun for some young readers.
A wordy but well-illustrated story about a young girl’s performance at a Hindu festival.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 979-8985583427
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Boomi LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts.
Ohtani, pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, teams up with Blank and Liem to tell the story of how his dog, Decoy, threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
It’s a big day! Decoy leaps “off the bed. Then back onto the bed. Then off the bed.” The enthusiastic pup heads outside to practice with his lucky baseball but is quickly distracted by squirrels (“we’ll play later!”), airplanes (“flyin’ high!”), and flowers (“smell ya soon!”). Dog and pitcher then head to the ballpark. In the locker room, Decoy high-paws Shohei’s teammates. It’s nearly time! But as Shohei prepares to warm up, Decoy realizes that he’s forgotten something important: his lucky ball. Without it, there will be “no championships, no parades, and no hot dogs!” Back home he goes, returning just in time. With Shohei at the plate, Decoy runs from the mound to his owner, rolling the ball into Shohei’s mitt for a “Striiiiike!” Related from a dog’s point of view, Ohtani and Blank’s energetic text lends the tale a sense of urgency and suspense. Liem’s illustrations capture the excitement of the first day of baseball season and the joys of locker room camaraderie, as well as Shohei and Decoy’s mutual affection—even when the ball is drenched in slobber, Shohei’s love for his pet shines through, and clearly, Decoy is focused when it matters.
A charming tale of an athlete who may not steal any bases but who will certainly steal readers’ hearts. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780063460775
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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