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ALONE LIKE ME

Name: ALONE LIKE ME
Author: Rebecca Evans
ISBN: 978-0-593-18192-8

by Rebecca Evans ; illustrated by Rebecca Evans ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2022

A hopeful, universal story about the power of friendship to dramatically improve the quality of everyday life.

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A picture book set in China shows that loneliness can be overcome.

Liling, a young Chinese girl, and her parents have moved from the country to a busy city. Her mother and father work in a sewing factory and a can-making factory respectively. Without friends or school, Liling is lonely. The artwork’s grayscale palette reflects that bleak reality. Even the marketplace, with its “tables of rainbow fabrics,” is painted in muted blues and grays. The only bright spots in the illustrations are Liling’s red coat and, eventually, the bright yellow coat of Qiqi, a smiling girl whom Liling must devise ingenious methods to befriend since they live in different buildings. The motif of a Chinese dragon, a metaphor for courage, weaves in and out of the artwork and text. The hand-drawn pictures and handwritten notes that the two girls send each other are sparks of joy in Liling’s otherwise dull life. The Chinese hukou system that traps Liling and her family in poverty is explained in a brief glossary and in the pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book, but it is not the focus of the story. An author’s note and a five-item resource list at the back provide details for parents and teachers seeking more information. Inspired by her visit to Shanghai to adopt a child, Evans’ pencil and watercolor paintings of Chinese characters and scenes avoid insensitive stereotypes and respect Chinese culture. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A hopeful, universal story about the power of friendship to dramatically improve the quality of everyday life. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: May 3, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-18192-8

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Anne Schwartz/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

- BOOK REVIEW
A NEW DAY FOR UMWELL THE GRAY
by Nathaniel Jenks ; illustrated by Rebecca Evans

- BOOK REVIEW
JAKE AND AVA
by Jonathan Balcombe ; illustrated by Rebecca Evans

- BOOK REVIEW
BABY'S OPPOSITES
by Nancy Raines Day ; illustrated by Rebecca Evans

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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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

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)