A simple, bright, if sentimental, tale of a new friendship and fresh beginnings.
In this picture book, a child considers befriending different animals before meeting the boy next door.
“I’d like to have a little gnat / but dad says gnats are tiny. / I couldn’t pat a teeny gnat / and some of them are whiny,” the tan-skinned narrator explains. This initiates a rhyming series of adjudications on members of the animal kingdom who might be his friend, but are unsatisfying for some reason. It’s too hot where he lives for polar bears, and his house is too small for elephants—which introduces the revelation that the protagonist has just moved and is lonely. Day’s digital paintings in textured brush strokes illuminate Howell’s story, though the level of creativity varies. The reasons for the animals’ dismissals are a bit dubious, and the rhymes are cutesy—a porcupine won’t do because “if I’m spiked from his dislike / I might get very sickly.” Still, the child enjoys meditating on their traits—until he meets Florenzo, a neighbor boy with dark skin who likes exploring. The boys search for pirates in the park and imagine a bird egg will hatch a dinosaur. Once another kid appears, friendship is straightforward—character development is not this story’s aim. “Imagination is a friend. / It strums a happy song” concludes the sugary verse, a little discordantly. But children looking to make friends after a life change will be heartened and comforted by the potential for finding pals in unfamiliar places.
A simple, bright, if sentimental, tale of a new friendship and fresh beginnings.Pub Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-956357-29-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lawley Enterprises LLC
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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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
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BOOK REVIEW
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