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LITTLE RED AND THE BIG BAD EDITOR

Name: LITTLE RED AND THE BIG BAD EDITOR
Author: Rebecca Kraft Rector
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6929-7

by Rebecca Kraft Rector ; illustrated by Shanda McCloskey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 2022

Deliciously satisfying.

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Each time Mr. Wolf seems about to devour Little Red on her way to Granny’s house, he is thwarted both by Red’s cleverness and by the poorly written letter she is bringing to thank her grandmother for her new cape.

In this funny riff on a much-parodied folktale, beginning writers and the read-aloud crowd are exposed to new words and lots of similes as they simultaneously learn the rudiments of proper letter writing. Whenever hungry Mr. Wolf surprises Red on her journey—which takes her through both the woods and the city—he’s distracted by the letter and leans over to further improve it; after he’s done editing, she cleverly shoves into his mouth a delectable baked good from her food bucket, then races away. The cartoonish but aesthetically appealing art and the layout perfectly complement—and add to—the text’s humor; at one juncture, Red escapes the wolf by stealing his skateboard. By the time Granny is reached, the lessons have moved from finger-spacing to headings. Usually, the wolf explains each change, which then shows up in the art; oddly, periods at the ends of sentences appear without comment. Red has tan, freckled skin and orange hair; Granny’s skin is several shades darker. Mr. Wolf has the proverbial big, pointy teeth, softened by his skinny body and the pencil behind his ear. All will enjoy the wickedly funny denouement: Mr. Wolf’s thank-you letter. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Deliciously satisfying. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-5344-6929-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

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SQUISH SQUASH SQUISHED
by Rebecca Kraft Rector ; illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte

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TRIA AND THE GREAT STAR RESCUE
by Rebecca Kraft Rector

PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

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PETE THE CAT'S 12 GROOVY DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

by James Dean ; illustrated by James Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among

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Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.

If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”

Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
PETE THE KITTY'S FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL
by Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

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I LOVE PETE THE KITTY
by James Dean & Kimberly Dean ; illustrated by James Dean

- BOOK REVIEW
TOOL SCHOOL
by Joan Holub ; illustrated by James Dean

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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)